Bell: How to handle Trump? Danielle Smith says: ‘Don’t poke the bear.’​on February 5, 2025 at 1:37 pm

Don’t poke the bear. 

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the worst thing for Canadians to think is that U.S. President Donald Trump is weak. 

“No, No. He’s definitely not,” says the premier. 

“Don’t poke the bear here.”

Smith says Canada came very close to be hit with tariffs.

Confrontation almost killed getting the win on a pause.

“I think we barely, barely got our 30-day reprieve and that’s what people need to be mindful of.” 

You have to take Trump seriously and know the man is looking for a deal.

“I understand Canadians are mad. They’re emotional and one of the wonderful things about Canadians is they rally behind each other when these kinds of threats happen.” 

“But let’s turn that energy for good as opposed to turning to a constantly escalating stream of rhetoric that will cost Canadians one million jobs.” 

A million jobs!  There’s the number.

Yes, insulting Trump and threatening Trump is not the way to go. 

Even the Trudeau government realizes there has to be negotiation. 

Informed individuals say Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has morphed into Captain Ontario to win re-election did nobody any favours by playing blowhard with the U.S. president. 

“I get that people sometimes get invested in the fight but we can’t be looking for a fight if the consequences is a million Canadians losing their jobs.” 

Smith has pushed diplomacy and not confrontation all through this tariff war leading to a 30-day pause on tariffs from Trump as Canada gets its act together on fentanyl. 

“I’ll be frank. As you know, I’ve taken the approach of diplomacy from the very beginning. I took Trump seriously from the very beginning,” says the premier. 

“I took Trump seriously when he said the border was an issue. We were the first to announce our border plan.” 

“We are focused on making sure we stamp out organized crime cartels and opioid deaths.” 

That includes on the American side of the border.

This month of reprieve from Trump tariffs is about fentanyl and tightening up the border and fighting the drug war. 

Trump is looking for more, of course. 

“It is about all of the trade irritants the Americans have with us from timber to supply management to digital taxes to banks. You name it,” says Smith. 

“That’s a grab bag of issues that have to be re-negotiated.” 

But, adds Smith, you can’t achieve all that now because Canada has to sit down with Trump and his people and do a new trade deal. 

That requires something Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cannot provide.