Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she is willing to walk into the “lion’s den” to sway American officials against Canadian tariffs – wooing the US president with meetings at Mar-a-Lago and cosying up with Trump-friendly media.
While many of the country’s leaders – from Prime Minister Mark Carney to Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford – are talking tough on Donald Trump, Smith has been taking a notably softer approach.
But this tact has landed her in hot water, not only with her opponents, but also in her home province of Alberta and with politicians who otherwise share her political leanings.
It has also put federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre on the defensive in the early days of the country’s short federal electoral race. Canadians are scheduled to vote on 28 April.
In January, while Trump was still president-elect, Smith had what she called a “friendly and constructive conversation” with Trump at Mar-a-Lago about the two countries’ shared energy relationship.
But an early March interview with right-wing American news outlet Breitbart made her friendliness with US Republican circles a liability for Poilievre and the federal Conservatives.
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- Smith, a former talk radio host and newspaper columnist, was asked by Breitbart News Washington bureau chief Matthew Boyle about the Poilievre-Trump relationship. In response, Smith said that the “unjust and unfair” tariffs threatened by Trump “actually caused an increase in the support for the Liberals”.
- “And so that’s what I fear, is that the longer this dispute goes on, politicians posture, and it seems to be benefiting the Liberals right now,” she said. “So I would hope that we could put things on pause is what I’ve told administration officials. Let’s just put things on pause so we can get through an election.”
- Smith also told the conservative news outlet that Poilievre brings a perspective that “would be very much in sync, I think, with the new direction in America,” adding that a Conservative government in Canada would help smooth relations with the US.
- The interview resurfaced this week as federal leaders were busy campaigning ahead of April’s election, and Smith was quickly criticised by Poilievre’s political opponents. New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh called the interview “shameful” and questioned her loyalty to Canada.
- The Liberals, meanwhile, have used it as political ammunition to bolster their attack line that Trump and Poilievre are too similar for Canadians who want to stand up to the US.
- Her comments were construed by some as asking Trump to delay tariffs so that a Conservative could win.
- Some on social media even called Smith a “traitor”, and accused her of pushing Trump to interfere with Canada’s elections – a point that she has strongly refuted.
- “Interference is one thing,” Smith told the Alberta legislature on Monday. “Asking the US to refrain from (tariffs) is actually the opposite. I do not want to see anyone interfere in our elections.”
- Poilievre, for his part, has attempted to dodge these attacks on the campaign trail. Asked about Smith’s remarks, he said: “People are free to make their own comments. I speak for myself.”
- Later in the week, Smith found herself in more hot water after she refused calls to cancel a trip to Florida on Thursday, where she appeared at a PragerU fundraising event alongside Ben Shapiro, a right-wing pundit. The two reportedly discussed how to help Canada elect “solid allies” to the Trump administration, according to Canada’s left-leaning media outlet the National Observer, which obtained audio of the event.
- Smith’s chief of staff Rob Anderson has defended the trip, saying the premier is “going into the lion’s den to try and convince US decision makers to cancel or even delay tariffs for as long as possible,” adding that her approach is “as Albertan and Canadian as it gets”.
- For political watchers in Alberta, Smith’s appearance on Breitbart and at PragerU is an extension of her friendlier approach to diplomacy with the US.
- Smith has often argued that trade with the US is “mutually beneficial” for both economies. She noted that her province sends most of its oil and gas to the US, and has criticised the federal Liberal government for environmental policies that she argues have blocked Alberta’s oil to other markets.
- She has also refused to use oil as a bargaining chip to fight back against US tariffs – breaking away from the position held by most other provincial leaders. Ford, by contrast, was willing to slap an export tariff on Ontario’s energy in retaliation.
- Jared Wesley, a researcher at the University of Alberta and expert on politics in Western Canada, said that many Albertans were open to Smith’s unconventional approach if it meant securing gains for the province and for Canada.
- But her recent comments on Breitbart have raised questions on whether “there were partisan considerations that were being thrown into the mix”.
- “A lot of Albertans are just trying to make sense of the purpose of these visits (to the US), because they are quite frequent,” Mr Wesley told the BBC.
- This has created a political dilemma for Poilievre, Mr Wesley noted, who is now lagging in national polls behind Carney and the Liberals – a dramatic reversal after his party had been ahead since mid-2023.
- “He’s been trying to distance himself from the Republican Trump wing of the global conservative movement,” he said. “And here is Danielle Smith saying that he’s part and parcel of it.”
- Not everyone, however, opposes the premier’s approach. Barry Cooper, a longtime conservative political scientist in Alberta, noted that Smith’s approval rating – while one of the lowest among Canada’s premiers – has not budged at around 46%.
- Mr Cooper added that Smith acknowledges Alberta’s interests differ from the rest of the country, and that she is focused on ensuring economic prosperity for the province by maintaining good ties with the US and being present at any negotiation tables.
- “Whatever they say (in eastern Canada) makes absolutely no difference to the support that the premier is going to get, because she is standing up for this province,” Mr Cooper told the BBC. “And quite frankly, I don’t think she really cares too much.”
- It is unclear whether Trump has been swayed at all by Smith’s lobbying, though the premier took credit on Friday for shifting Shapiro’s opinion on tariffs, after he spoke out against them.
- The US president did reduce his threatened tariffs on Canadian energy products from 25% to 10%, but Canadian politicians – including Smith – have said that the better outcome is no tariffs at all.
- Trump’s tone towards Canada has turned positive in recent days after his first phone call with Liberal leader and Prime Minister Carney. But it remains to be seen whether this will translate into any reprieve.
