Alberta Premier Daniel Smith is in Ottawa

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Friday she has no problem with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilevre's proposal to give municipalities a construction bonus to encourage housing construction — if it gets passed by her provincial government.

Smith addressed the Conservatives at the annual networking conference in Ottawa, days after introducing a bill that would bar Alberta cities from entering into direct contracts with the federal government.

Speaking publicly, he called it a “stay out of my backyard report” and his message to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was to stay away from Alberta businesses.

Smith's United Conservative Party government, formally known as the Provincial Priorities Act, said if passed it would require provincially regulated entities to seek government approval before changing or entering into a new agreement with Ottawa.

He said this was due to the Trudeau Liberal government announcing funding deals with private cities such as Calgary and Edmonton under the Housing Acceleration Fund.

After speaking at Canada's Strong and Free Network meeting in Ottawa on Friday, Smith suggested the same rule would apply if the Conservatives form the next government.

“Our policies apply to whoever sits in the prime minister's chair,” Smith said.

“We expect them to respect provincial jurisdiction and work with us.”

Smith has consistently accused Trudeau of not respecting provincial jurisdiction, particularly when it comes to advancing policies to combat climate change.

But he said the new housing deals were the last straw.

Polievre proposed his own set of measures to speed up housing construction, including offering bonuses to municipalities that build more housing and threatening to withhold money from those that don't.

According to him, “government watchdogs” are to blame for the slowdown in housing construction, especially targeting mayors and akimats with “paper cutting”.

That's why Polievre says the plan to increase housing supply is by requiring municipalities to move faster.

“I would say as long as it works through the provincial government, we're not going to have that problem,” Smith said Friday of his bonus offer.

He said he believed it was “completely ineffective” for the federal government to make specific agreements with various municipalities.

“This is the definition of red tape,” said the prime minister.

Polievre's office did not directly respond to Smith's claim that he expects a future Conservative government to work through his government to deliver housing cash.

Instead, Ontario MP Scott Aitchison, who serves as the party's housing critic in Parliament, took on the housing issue in a statement accusing Trudeau of prioritizing the photos by making announcements about funding for the $4 billion Housing Acceleration Fund.

“Sensible conservatives reward those who build houses and punish the gatekeepers who prevent them from being built,” Aitchison said.