Christy Clark praises Alberta premier's 'courage' on pipeline issue

B.C.'s Premier says her Alberta counterpart did the right thing in going to the West Coast to speak about a controversial oil pipeline.

Christy Clark says it took courage for Rachel Notley to visit B.C. to promote Kinder Morgan's 6.8-billion dollar Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.

Notley was in Vancouver earlier this week, speaking to the media about the project and meeting with B.C.'s Opposition New Democrat Leader John Horgan, who opposes the pipeline expansion.

The project will triple capacity of the pipeline, which carries oil from near Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C., and has faced fierce opposition from some environmental groups, First Nations and municipal leaders.

The federal government approved the project last week and Clark says her government will follow if all five of its conditions are met.

She says her government is still working with Ottawa on spill response and is preparing to negotiate an economic benefits package with Kinder Morgan that reflects the risks the pipeline and an increase in tanker traffic would present for B.C.