By The Canadian Press

B.C. ministers say throne speech comments weren’t meant to insult Alberta

Feb 10, 2016 | 2:06 PM

VICTORIA — British Columbia cabinet ministers say comments in a throne speech about Alberta’s economic state were not insults but cold, hard facts about governments who don’t control spending or diversify their resources.

Housing Minister Rich Coleman suggested many of B.C.’s homeless are from Alberta and that province’s former premier Ralph Klein bought one-way bus tickets for welfare recipients to travel west and stay there.

Coleman says Alberta’s homeless are now migrating to B.C. in greater numbers than normal.

Energy Minister Bill Bennett says there wasn’t any intention to snub the neighbouring province and that he’s been negotiating with his counterparts there about connecting B.C.’s hydro power to Alberta.

Premier Christy Clark and former Alberta premier Alison Redford feuded publicly over B.C.’s five conditions regarding the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project from northern Alberta to northwest B.C.

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Alberta’s Economic Development Minister Deron Bilous says he interprets the throne-speech comments as an attack on that province’s previous Conservative governments, not the current New Democrats.