Prime Minister holds second cabinet retreat in as many years in southern Alberta

Federal ministers continue to arrive at the Fairmont Palliser ahead of two days of meetings in downtown Calgary.

It’s the Prime Minister’s second retreat in southern Alberta in as many years, picking the city to signal how important the ‘west’ is to his future plans.

It also likely has something to do with the fact that Calgary has been hit hard by the economic slump and the price of oil.

In what must seem like an eerie parallel to the new U.S. president, much of Justin Trudeau’s agenda is expected to focus on the economy and strengthening the middle class.

The cabinet retreat comes only days after President Donald Trump’s inauguration and only hours after the two had a conversation over the phone.

Officials with the Prime Minister’s Office have since revealed it focused around Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wishing Trump congratulations and talk on how the two countries can work better together.

He added the two are looking forward to meeting at some point down the road.

Trump had signalled during his speech that moving forward the United States would be taking more of a protectionist approach, but it’s unclear how that will affect Canada.

This is Trudeau’s first visit to Alberta since stating during one of his ‘town halls’ that the oil sands would have to be phased out.

His comments did not sit well with local leaders, and officials couldn’t say if he’ll get a chance to meet with any of them during his brief stay.

Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr did concede the building of the Keystone XL pipeline is looking more likely given Trump’s previous comments about the project.

“As you know, the government of Canada is supportive of Keystone XL. All of the approvals north of the border are in place and we think approval would be good for Canada,’ he said.

“We will have to see what the administration actually does, many words have been spoken and there has been tons of speculation but we enter the relationship knowing that there is common ground in the energy sphere and we will look for it.”

Cabinet members will kick off the retreat with a fireside chat Sunday night involving the heads of CSIS, CSEC, the head of the Coast Guard and the Chief of Defence Staff.

The prime minister will end his retreat in Calgary with a town hall to be held Tuesday night before he travels into the Prairies.