Premier Danielle Smith is criticized from the outskirts of her Conservative camp for declaring that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff war on Canada is virtually over. Read More
Smith’s Alberta-first language alarms many federal Conservatives who are desperately trying to get Leader Pierre Poilievre elected
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Smith’s Alberta-first language alarms many federal Conservatives who are desperately trying to get Leader Pierre Poilievre elected
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Premier Danielle Smith is criticized from the outskirts of her Conservative camp for declaring that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff war on Canada is virtually over.
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In a post on X she said, “It appears the worst of this tariff dispute is behind us (although there is still work to be done).”
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She said most Canadian goods, including Alberta energy, will not be tariffed under terms of the current trade deal.
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Smith certainly acknowledged hardship, especially in Ontario’s auto industry, which Trump hit Wednesday with a 25 per cent levy.
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But her overall tone was triumphal. She claimed vindication of her own efforts in the U.S.
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“Today was an important win for Canada and Alberta,” she said.
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Jason Kenney, her predecessor as UCP premier, posted his own view.
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“Today’s U.S. tariff announcement is nothing to celebrate,” Kenney said on X.
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“Entire Canadian industries still look to be clobbered by arbitrary U.S. tariffs.
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“And the sword of Damocles continues to hang over us: the on-again-off-again ‘emergency’ 25 per cent tariff on Canadian exports imposed two months ago is reaffirmed in today’s executive order.”
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Kenney, who recently joined the board of Herald parent company Postmedia, didn’t mention Smith directly, but the message was clear.
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James Moore, a former colleague of Kenney’s in the Stephen Harper cabinet, was direct.
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“With respect, premier, this is not a good day for Canada or the world,” he posted on X.
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“When Alberta is economically attacked, it is bad for Canada.
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“Thousands of Canadians in the auto, steel, aluminum and other industries may be losing their jobs.
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“This is not a BIG WIN. Canadians stand together.”
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Smith’s Alberta-first language alarms many federal Conservatives who are desperately trying to get Leader Pierre Poilievre elected.
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They agree with her issues (the emission caps, Bill C-69 and many other irritants) but worry that she sounds out of line with growing Elbows Up patriotism across the country.
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Liberal Leader Mark Carney owns that nationalist sentiment. Poilievre voices it firmly, but past echoes of Trumpism cast a shadow that’s hard to dispel.
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Smith’s language comes across as jarring, especially in hard-hit southern Ontario, where the Liberals are far ahead but Poilievre must win seats to have any hope of victory.
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One embittered federal player said: “The only way she could help Pierre would be to go into the witness protection program for the next month.”
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Smith is right about the province averting serious disaster, for now, but some companies still face trouble.
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Alberta firms sold nearly $1 billion worth of aluminum and steel to the U.S. in 2024. Those companies bear the 25 per cent tariff that bludgeons the much larger industries of Ontario and Quebec.
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Tuesday’s new 25 per cent tariff on cars also has local impact.
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Some Alberta companies sell products to the Ontario auto industry. They won’t be hit directly by tariffs, but any drop in activity means declining sales.
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(Alberta cars, trucks and buses were once manufactured and exported by Redcliff Motors Company.
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The delightful town near Medicine Hat was known as “smokeless Pittsburgh of the West” until a ferocious F-4 tornado, one of the strongest ever in Canada, destroyed local businesses on June 25, 1915.)
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Alberta does emerge from the latest tariff twist with minor harm, largely because of the exemptions for energy and agriculture, our two biggest industries by far.
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But everything about the Trump tariff regime is madhouse nuts. One man has upended the world trade system.
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Penguins on uninhabited islands are Trump-tariffed to the tips of their feathers.
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Little Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the French territory just off the coast of Newfoundland, faces a 99 per cent tariff because it apparently sold a few fish to the U.S. and failed to buy anything in return.
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Nothing is certain. Claims of victory are unwise and embarrassing.
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Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald
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