Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks during meetings of Canada's premiers in Toronto, on Dec. 16, 2024.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith didn’t try to disguise her joy while hobnobbing in Washington with America’s political elite this week. The many pictures on her social media feed said it all.
There she was, in her formal best, rubbing shoulders with Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, kibitzing with new Secretary of State Marco Rubio, smiling warmly alongside President Donald Trump’s pick for defence secretary, Pete Hegseth. And on and on it went.
It was as if she desperately wanted the world to know she was a player. Just not a team player.
Ms. Smith’s trip to Washington for Mr. Trump’s inauguration was made ostensibly to lobby against a 25-per-cent-tariff on the province’s oil exports to the U.S. She made a similar plea to Mr. Trump during a visit to Mar-a-Lago on Jan. 11.
It appeared initially that maybe Canada was going to get a reprieve from the tariffs when, on Monday, it was announced that Mr. Trump would ask his officials to study foreign trade practices. There was no mention of tariffs. Ms. Smith bathed in warm praise from her home province; her diplomacy had paid off! But then later, while signing executive orders in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump said he would impose 25-per-cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, most likely on Feb. 1. Turns out she didn’t save the day after all.
Certainly, any assurance Ms. Smith gave the President at Mar-a-Lago that she wouldn’t stand for Alberta oil being banned for export or subject to an export levy as part of a Canadian response to U.S. tariffs would have done nothing to dissuade Mr. Trump from backing off his plan – just the opposite. More likely to get Mr. Trump’s attention, eventually, are the words of people like Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has said the U.S. should expect a fierce, no-holds-barred response from Canada. Well, except for Alberta.
Ms. Smith has never hidden her true allegiances. She has always been Alberta first, Canada second. She refused to sign the non-binding declaration that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the rest of the country’s premiers agreed to on Jan. 16 that committed them to really nothing more than sticking together in the face of the U.S. threat. But she wanted no part of that.
It was one of the most objectionable decisions a Canadian premier has taken in decades, especially during a national crisis like the one this country faces. Mr. Ford has said the Trump tariffs could potentially cost his province 500,000 jobs and yet he is all in on a full-scale suite of retaliatory measures in response. Not Ms. Smith. She favours words over action.
Even though, it should be noted, no one has said Alberta oil would definitely be affected by any Canadian response to U.S. tariffs. All anyone has said is that you don’t take anything off the table and certainly not your biggest weapon. Why tie one arm behind your back in a fight with someone much bigger than you? Canada accounts for 60 per cent of U.S. crude oil imports and 98 per cent of its natural gas imports. That’s not a bad arsenal to have in a trade war.
Again, the fact that this is how Ms. Smith decided to respond to arguably the greatest potential attack on our economy in modern history is utterly contemptible. This is the thanks Canadian taxpayers get for spending $34-billion to build Alberta an oil pipeline to the Pacific.
You’re left to wonder if Ms. Smith would rather be part of the U.S., as governor of the 51st state of Alberta. Patrick Malkin, the Premier’s deputy chief of staff, recently responded on X to a post by a person questioning why Alberta remained part of Canada, given how much money the province contributes to the country’s equalization program. “It’s a fair question, I’m hearing it daily. What’s the answer?” Mr. Malkin wrote. Of course, he never answers that question himself. We are left to assume leaving the Confederation is the only option. (Mr. Malkin later deleted his tweet.)
Of course, we don’t know how Mr. Trump’s planned tariff tactic will ultimately play out. During her media interviews, Ms. Smith said Canada needs to emphasize with Mr. Trump’s people all the important products our country supplies to the U.S. – as if federal officials and every Canadian premier haven’t been talking about this for weeks. She said it would help if Canada boosted defence spending. Wow, what a crazy, novel idea. Why didn’t anyone else think of that?
Soon, Ms. Smith will have to put away her gowns and return to Alberta, very much alone. She has turned her back on Canada at a moment of grave crisis, showing her true colours in the process. And that should never be forgotten.