Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she would not allow for tariffs to be applied to her province’s energy, nor would she entertain the idea of cutting off Canada’s biggest trading partner.
Smith opted out of participating in a joint statement signed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the other premiers on Wednesday that outlined proposed retaliatory measures in response to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s potential tariffs.
“The Government of Alberta did not approve the joint statement between the Government of Canada and the Council of the Federation,” reads a release from the prime minister.
The statement was released following a meeting between Trudeau and the premiers to discuss how best to collectively respond to Trump’s threat of a 25% tariff on all Canadian imports to be implemented upon taking office.
Applying tariffs to Canadian energy south of the border and even outright cutting it off were among the retaliatory measures discussed during Wednesday’s meeting.
These ideas have already been publicly bandied around by Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly.
Smith however, being the only premier to have personally already met with Trump to negotiate its future trading issues, announced she won’t be going along with such measures, taking issue with even the notion of it.
“Until these threats cease, Alberta will not be able to fully support the federal government’s plan in dealing with the threatened tariffs. Alberta will simply not agree to export tariffs on our energy or other products, nor do we support a ban on exports of these same products,” wrote Smith in a statement released on Wednesday.
“We will take whatever actions are needed to protect the livelihoods of Albertans from such destructive federal policies.”
The Alberta premier intends to travel to Washington for Trump’s inauguration next week and announced plans to return to the U.S. “several times over the coming months to meet with U.S. lawmakers and officials to continue to make the case against the imposition of tariffs on Canadian products.”
She believes her approach will better “strengthen and grow the trading relationship between our two great and independent nations.”
Premier Ford criticized Smith’s stance, suggesting that Trump’s tariffs affected the country as a whole, not just certain provinces and their pertinent industry sectors.
Referring to Trump, Ford said, “He’s sitting there with a big smile on his face thinking ‘I’m going to divide and conquer.’ Remember one thing, united we stand and divided we fall. We need to be united.”
Trudeau echoed Ford’s remarks, saying “Nothing can be off the table if the U.S. continues to move forward with these punishing tariffs.”
The prime minister addressed how Ontario’s auto sector would also be hit hard by Trump’s tariffs but that Ford is a “Canadian first” and wasn’t prioritizing his province ahead of the country.
After Smith initially returned from a face-to-face meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago to negotiate trade on Monday, she warned the Trudeau government not to halt energy exports to the U.S. as a response.
She said it would only be an “empty threat” that would ignite division within the country.
“We also urge our entire nation to use this tariff threat as an opportunity to correct the misguided direction of this country and commence multiple infrastructure projects that focus on developing, upgrading and exporting our oil, gas and other natural resources, instead of effectively land locking them and keeping us fully reliant on one primary customer,” reads Smith’s statement.
While Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe had previously expressed his support for Smith’s notion, he ultimately signed the joint statement.
The government said it will wait until Trump takes office before announcing the exact details of its retaliatory measures.
