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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith blames Trudeau as Trump eyes Feb. 1 tariffs

Smith said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has damaged relationships with the current administration, placing Canada in a complicated position. "If there's a failure of leadership, and if there's a damage to the relationship, it's 100 per cent at the feet of Justin Trudeau"

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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has complicated ongoing negotiations with the U.S. after newly inaugurated President Donald Trump set a date to impose tariffs against Canada.

Smith told reporters at a Tuesday morning news conference the focus should be on diplomacy and ending talks about retaliatory tariffs.

She said there is a deal to be made and that she does not believe in “no-win” situations.

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“I think that we are looking at this reprieve as being an opportunity for us to make the case about why we should continue to be tariff-free,” Smith said. “But we do have to be prepared that if (Trump is) looking at tariffs as a revenue source then it’s going to require a bit of a different result from us.

“I don’t know that this particular administration, this particular president, responds well to threats, especially empty threats. If he wants more energy security, then you should be talking about how you can provide energy security, not making the conversation about energy security undermined.”

In Trump’s first media conference at the White House, the 45th and 47th president gave different reasons to separate audiences for electing to put a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian products, citing border problems and later saying tariffs will make the United States “rich as hell.”

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“I think we’ll do it February 1,” he told reporters Monday evening at the first White House news conference of his second presidency.

“We’re thinking in terms of 25 per cent on Mexico and Canada, because they’re allowing vast numbers of people,” Trump said.

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“Canada’s a very bad abuser, allows vast numbers of people to come in and fentanyl to come in.”

Premiers must step up, Smith places blame on Trudeau

Smith said Trudeau has damaged relationships with the current administration, placing Canada in a complicated position.

“If there’s a failure of leadership, and if there’s a damage to the relationship, it’s 100 per cent at the feet of Justin Trudeau,” Smith said.

“All I can do is try to repair and build relationships that should have been repaired and built over the last four years.”

Smith said at this time it is up to the premiers who will be “consistent voices” and have longer mandates to maintain relationships until a new prime minister is elected in Canada.

The Alberta premier has been criticized by her counterparts and Trudeau for not taking a “Team Canada” approach.

During her time speaking with U.S. officials, Smith said she has been making a case for both Alberta and Canada as a whole.

“I’ve been asking for recognition that this important trade relationship means Canada should get a carve-out,” Smith said.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith meets with U.S. policy makers in Washington, D.C.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith meets with U.S. policymakers in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025 ,ahead of the inauguration of President Donald Trump on Monday. Photo by Supplied Photos/Facebook

Canada must implement strategies to maintain ‘special status’

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The optimism Smith displayed on Monday — prior to Trump announcing a date to impose tariffs — remained on Tuesday.

She said there are several strategies Canada can implement in order to maintain the country’s “special status” and promote positive relationships with the U.S., including doubling down on border control and cracking down on all “immigration strings and loopholes” that allow individuals who are “hostile” to both countries from entering.

In a “win-win,” Canada would negotiate so the U.S. could buy more oil, timber and agricultural products from Canada, while Canada could buy more American gas turbines and military equipment. Smith added there has to be a “major acceleration” of Canada’s two per cent of GDP NATO commitment which Smith said needs to be done to demonstrate to the U.S. that Canada is a reliable partner in energy security.

Repealing federal “anti-energy policies” would also be included.?

“I think it’s incumbent upon all of the premiers to make sure that we’re making our own case very loudly, very strongly in order to be able to avoid tariffs,” Smith said.

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According to figures from Smith’s office, the U.S. is Alberta’s largest trading partner. In 2023, Alberta’s exports to the U.S. totalled US$115.58 billion, accounting for about 90 per cent of total provincial exports in 2023. Of that, energy products accounted for about US$94.4 billion.?

On Monday, Quebec Premier Fran?ois Legault suggested at a news conference that the federal government should compensate provinces that would be hardest hit by a Canadian response to Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs.

“If a province like Alberta had to make efforts that cost more than all the provinces, there should be compensation from the federal government. The idea is to make Canada win, but not necessarily to make one province pay more than another,” Legault said.

Smith said it was a “premature discussion” and that she is not counting on any dollars at the moment.

Leader of the Alberta NDP Naheed Nenshi answers questions
Leader of the Alberta NDP Naheed Nenshi answers questions about Premier Danielle Smith’s comments on U.S. tariffs and other provincial matters, during a press conference in Edmonton Tuesday Jan. 21, 2025. Photo by David Bloom /Postmedia

Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said Smith’s position on tariffs hurts Canada because it is becoming the story. He said if the premier was in the room during the meeting between premiers and Trudeau, he believes leaders would’ve been able to come to a statement upon which they all agreed.

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“I would have imagined that the premier and her government would be working hard with stakeholders to try and figure out what to do, but instead, we have a premier who fundamentally believed that if she only got 30 seconds with the incoming president, she would charm him into completely violating his core economic tenants,” Nenshi said.

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in a statement Tuesday that he believes Canada should consider retaliatory tariffs and urged Trudeau to reopen Parliament.

“Canada has never been so weak, and things have never been so out of control. Liberals are putting themselves and their leadership politics ahead of the country. Freeland and Carney are fighting for power rather than fighting for Canada,” Poilievre said.

“Common sense Conservatives are calling for Trudeau to reopen Parliament to pass new border controls, agree on trade retaliation and prepare a plan to rescue Canada’s weak economy.

President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up at an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up at an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo by Matt Rourke /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Trump withdraws U.S. from Paris climate treaty

On Monday, Trump held up a flourished scrawl for the parade crowd to see at the Capital One Arena, a letter to the United Nations explaining that the U.S. is withdrawing from the Paris climate treaty.

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“We’re going to save over a trillion dollars by withdrawing from that treaty,” Trump said.

And forget about wind power, he said, mocking previous government efforts to address the science of climate change.

“So we have more oil and gas than any country in the world, and we’re going to use it. We’re not going to do the wind thing … big, ugly windmills. They ruin your neighbourhood. They ruin you,” he said, blaming wind power for the deaths of 28 whales in a single year in New England.

“‘Gladys, I’m sorry. The wind is just not blowing. We’re not watching Trump tonight,'” he said, hamming it up before announcing the country’s abrupt exit from the Paris Climate Accord, noting Joe Biden had said the pact was important for America’s standing in the world.

— With files from Jackie Carmichael

ctran@postmedia.com

Recommended from Editorial
  1. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith poses for a photo with U.S. Governor of Arkansas Sarah Huckabee Sanders in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, ahead of the inauguration of President Donald Trump on Monday.
    Alberta Premier Danielle Smith praises Trump tariffs reversal but warns threat 'is still very real'
  2. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is seen during a cabinet retreat at Chateau Montebello in Montebello, Que., on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
    Trudeau to meet with cabinet as Trump renews threat of tariffs on Canada

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