Alberta Premier Danielle Smith — who’s stood in staunch opposition to the idea of cutting off energy exports to the U.S. in response to the potential imposition of tariffs — insists she isn’t creating a national unity crisis by publicly opposing her fellow premiers on the issue.
“I think the problem that we saw is that we were getting together as a group of premiers and the prime minister saying, ‘let’s not negotiate this in public,' and I did my part, saying, ‘let’s focus on the things that we know the Americans care about: national security and border security,’ and everybody else went off freelancing,” Smith told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing Sunday.
“The thing they kept returning to was punishing Alberta and punishing energy,” Smith added. “So, I just wanted to make sure that we get back to talking about the things that unite us, rather than divide us.”
Newly inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump threatened in late November to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico on day one of his second term.
While the commander-in-chief didn’t follow through on that threat this week, he said during a signing ceremony for a flurry of executive orders on Monday that he’s now considering Feb. 1 for the measure. Trump is also threatening tariffs on China and the European Union.
As a potential retaliatory measure, the federal government has repeatedly said every option remains on the table, including cutting off Canadian energy exports to the United States or imposing an export tax on certain products and resources.
Smith, in turn, has repeatedly insisted that’s something “Albertans are just simply not going to accept.”
“Let’s be very clear about what an export tariff is,” Smith told Kapelos. “It means putting a tax on Canadian goods so that all the dollars go to Ottawa; so that Ottawa can use those dollars to redistribute (to) other provinces. And we’ve seen that newsreel before.”
Smith is also opposed to a focus on counter-tariffs.
“It’s something that we’re absolutely going to be looking at if that is how (the U.S.) move forward,” Trudeau said at last week’s cabinet retreat in Montebello, Que.
Smith disagrees, saying the emphasis in Canada’s approach should be on how to avoid tariffs altogether, rather than raising the prospect of countermeasures.
“I always think that you should try to avoid a fight, especially when you’ve got a bigger adversary that you’re fighting against,” Smith said.
“The American economy is 10 times the size of Canada, and if we get into some kind of tit-for-tat retaliatory tariffs, neither country is going to benefit from that.”
The prime minister has said he supports dollar-for-dollar retaliation if necessary, as have Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Meanwhile, The Canadian Press reported this week that former NAFTA negotiator Steve Verheul told the Toronto-based Empire Club in a Tuesday speech that Alberta is undermining Canada’s negotiating position with the Americans by refusing to consider cutting off energy exports.
“I think we have to have a realistic argument,” Smith said, when asked by Kapelos about Verheul’s comments. “You really shouldn’t threaten to do things that you can’t do.”
When pressed repeatedly by Kapelos on why Canada would take its strongest leverage off the table, Smith pointed to her vision of a “Team Canada approach,” which would see more pipeline projects get underway so the country can diversify its market to be less reliant on the United States.
“I think that’s a more constructive conversation to have,” Smith said. “If we’re going to have this temporary, or maybe even more permanent, problem with our U.S. partner, we’ve got to be looking at new markets, and we would be far better off working together, rather than putting forward policies that are only going to divide us.”
Smith has also repeatedly said her preference is to find a way to prevent the tariffs altogether, namely by addressing Trump’s concerns when it comes to border security and defence spending. Trump has also talked about using tariffs to raise revenue.
The Alberta premier was in Washington for Trump’s inauguration and spent much of the past week meeting with American officials south of the border.
Asked if she has received any clarity on when tariffs could be imposed, Smith did not have a definitive answer.
“I was pleased to see that there was a reprieve. We don’t know how long that’s going to be for, but I think what I hear, no matter who I talk to, who’s close to him, is that the president likes to have a win, and you can put together a win in any number of ways,” Smith said.
The Canadian government has readied a three-phased response it could begin rolling out immediately, depending on what Trump does. The plan includes an initial round of counter-tariffs on $37 billion in goods, followed by tariffs on another $110 billion or so of American imports.
