Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she wants to see a unified approach to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s economic threats toward Canada, but that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “hasn’t made it easy” — and that Alberta is prepared to secure its own interests in Washington.
Speaking to Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block, Smith said she wants to ensure that oil and gas from Alberta is exempted from the 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports that Trump has threatened, but that Trudeau’s policies — including carbon pricing and a proposed cap on oil pollution that Alberta says amounts to a production cap — stand in the way.
“We’re saying to the Americans, we are your solution to energy security. We are your solution to energy affordability. You can’t take that message to the table when you’ve got these additional taxes and production caps layered on top,” she said.
“We have to have a cohesive message, and part of this is going to be a bit of a climbdown for Justin Trudeau and some of the bad policies that he’s enacted over the last number of years.”
Trump has promised to impose the punishing tariffs on his first day in office in January unless Canada addresses concerns regarding immigration and cross-border drug trafficking, particularly fentanyl.
Smith has called those issues legitimate, and told Stephenson the threat reflects concerns over Trudeau’s immigration and public safety policies that have not been aligned with more hardline approaches favoured by Trump and Republicans, as well as conservatives like herself.
She said Alberta, like other provinces, has also been hit hard by the opioid crisis and new immigration that has strained social services and resources.
“(Trudeau) has to recognize some of the things that he that he has done has not worked, and now it’s interfering with our trade relationship with the United States. And that should be everybody’s concern,” she said.
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