Good morning, everyone.

It doesn’t look like Alberta is going to get it’s long sought after pipeline by the time the Grey Cup kicks off on Sunday, but Premier Danielle Smith certainly sounded hopeful on Thursday.

“I’m really encouraged to see that so many of the other provinces are proposing resource projects that are revenue-generating,” Smith told reporters after speaking at the Alberta Municipalities convention in Calgary.

“We’re encouraged by where we find ourselves. We’re hopeful. Whether or not that hope is well-founded, our hope is to get to an agreement.”

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a second batch of energy and infrastructure projects that will be fast-tracked through his government’s newly created Major Projects Office.

The six projects announced Thursday are the Ksi Lisims liquefied natural gas project in British Columbia; Ontario’s Crawford nickel project; New Brunswick’s Sisson mine; Nouveau Monde Graphite’s Matawinie Mine in Quebec; the Iqaluit Nukkiksautiit Hydro Project and the North Coast Transmission Line in northwest B.C.

“Each of these projects that we are referring to the MPO today is transformational, and their impacts will be amplified by being part of bigger national strategies to boost Canada’s competitiveness,” Carney said at an event in Terrace, B.C.

But despite no promise of a pipeline among the group of projects the Prime Minister is touting, Smith on Thursday said an agreement with Ottawa is expected to be signed in the coming days that would address federal regulations she has repeatedly said hamper private-sector investment in the energy industry.

Smith said she has been working towards a “grand bargain” with the federal government that could see the ban on oil tankers off B.C.’s north coast rescinded, potentially paving the way for a bitumen pipeline.

Of course, the tanker ban is something B.C. Premier David Eby and leaders of coastal First Nations have told Ottawa they want retained.

While it’s unclear when exactly the two levels of government could sign this memorandum of understanding to address these issues, Smith said an announcement would likely happen after the Grey Cup – the deadline she had set for the Prime Minister.

“Are we going to get to the finish line on an MOU? I think we’ll know in a few more days. I’m very hopeful,” Smith said.

Carney described the negotiations with Alberta as “productive.”

“This is a very important process for the province, for the country,” he said.

While the intent of the negotiations is to address federal rules governing resource development, both Carney and Smith have said reducing emissions through the Pathways Alliance carbon-capture project – a 400-kilometre-lone pipeline that would transport carbon trapped at oil sands facilities – would be a necessary condition to unlocking new pipelines.

Smith said Thursday she believes getting an agreement in place between the province and Ottawa will help spur private companies to come forward with a pipeline proposal. While Alberta has been banging the drum for a pipeline to the B.C. coast and has taken the lead on an application, the province has insisted it does not want to be the financial backer.

This is the weekly Alberta newsletter written by Alberta Bureau Chief Mark Iype. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.