Danielle Smith says plea for U.S. to pause tariffs was ‘opposite’ of meddling

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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith argued on Monday that when she said she told U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to pause its tariff dispute with Canada, she was advocating for an end to interference in the coming federal election rather than promoting foreign meddling.

On a March 8 episode of Breitbart News Saturday, a U.S. radio show, Ms. Smith said Mr. Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods were bolstering support for the Liberals ahead of the federal election, which had yet to be called.

“So I would hope that we could put things on pause, is what I’ve told administration officials,” she said in the interview, which surfaced over the weekend. She did not specify which Trump officials were involved in the discussions.

Federal officials, including Canada’s chief electoral officer, on Monday said Ms. Smith’s comments on the right-wing show do not qualify as interference under the country’s election’s laws. But critics continued to chastise the Premier for her statements, which roiled the election campaign for the second straight day. Ms. Smith, meanwhile, defended her comments in Alberta’s legislature on Monday.

“Interference is one thing. Asking the U.S. to refrain from [tariffs] is actually the opposite. I do not want to see anyone interfere in our elections,” Ms. Smith said.

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In the Breitbart interview, Ms. Smith also suggested that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre would align with the Trump administration, saying: “The perspective that Pierre would bring would be very much in sync with, I think, with the new direction in America.”

The Liberals have been comparing Mr. Poilievre to Mr. Trump, arguing the Conservative Leader embraces the same policies as the U.S. President. Mr. Poilievre, at a campaign event in Brampton, Ont., deflected when asked whether Ms. Smith’s statements on Breitbart were appropriate. “People are free to make their own comments,” he told reporters Monday morning.

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He argued Mr. Trump favours the Liberals because they mismanaged the country to the benefit of the United States.

“They’ve handed him control of our economy,” Mr. Poilievre said, arguing Canada will be a “bigger target” for the President if the Liberals stay in power.

Jagmeet Singh, the Leader of the New Democratic Party, said Ms. Smith was playing political games with people’s livelihoods.

“It is shameful,” Mr. Singh said at a campaign event in Montreal. “If you’re loyal to this country, if you care about Canadians, you’d say: ‘Stop the tariffs. Don’t hurt Canadian workers.’”

Liberal Leader Mark Carney, who was sworn in as Prime Minister on March 14, tied Ms. Smith’s name to his Conservative rival when explaining why he thinks he and Mr. Trump have not yet talked. The President is waiting to see who wins the April 28 contest, Mr. Carney argued at an event in Gander, N.L.

“Is it someone who is, to quote Danielle Smith, who’s in sync with him, or is it someone who’s going to stand up for Canadians?” the Liberal Leader said.

Ms. Smith, who has made several trips to the U.S. and spoken on U.S. television many times, is scheduled to appear at a gala hosted by former Breitbart contributor and commentator Ben Shapiro in Florida on March 27. Sam Blackett, Ms. Smith’s spokesman, in a statement said this is part of the Premier’s lobbying effort.

“Given Ben Shapiro has millions of followers on social media, strong connections within President Donald Trump’s administration, and believes the U.S. should lower tariffs on Canada ... this event provides the opportunity for the Premier to share and advocate for Alberta’s and Canada’s interests to millions of Americans and other key allies of the administration,” Mr. Blackett said.

Laurie-Anne Kempton, a senior bureaucrat in the Privy Council Office, said officials are not investigating the Premier’s statements on Breitbart.

“They don’t meet the definition of interference, and so we are not looking into them,” Ms. Kempton said at a government briefing on election integrity.

Stéphane Perrault, Canada’s chief electoral officer, said “elections interference” is not a term used in the Elections Act, but there are provisions, such as those around spending and third-party activities, that may be relevant to foreign interference. Ms. Smith’s comments “do not trigger any of these,” he said.

Stephanie Carvin, an associate professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, agreed that Ms. Smith’s comments do not appear to meet the legal national security definition of foreign election interference, as they weren’t kept secret and weren’t directed by a foreign entity.

But Prof. Carvin said politicians advising a foreign state to take any action related to a Canadian election would be subject to political debate.

“Just because it’s not a national security threat doesn’t mean people might not have a problem with it,” she said.

Ken Boessenkool, an Alberta-based economist and policy consultant and a former campaign adviser to Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, condemned Ms. Smith’s Breitbart interview, saying on X it confirms his belief she is “unfit for public office.”

In an interview, Mr. Boessenkool said not only did the Premier invite the U.S. administration to influence a Canadian election – she did not tell Albertans about this interview.

“You’re asking a foreign power to maybe change a policy to maybe benefit one political party over another, and even if it’s your political party or whatever, that’s just not how we do politics in Canada,” Mr. Boessenkool said.

Canada’s recently amended Foreign Interference and Security Information Act allows for a maximum life sentence for anyone who “at the direction of, or in association with, a foreign entity, engages in surreptitious or deceptive conduct with the intent to influence a political or governmental process, educational governance, the performance of a duty in relation to such a process or such governance or the exercise of a democratic right in Canada.”

With reports from Stephanie Levitz, Kristy Kirkup and Steven Chase

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