Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she wants to see a unified approach to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s economic threats to Canada, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “hasn’t made it easy” and Alberta is prepared to secure its own interests in Washington.
Speaking to Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired on Sunday The west blockSmith said he wants to ensure Alberta oil and gas is exempt from the 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports that Trump has threatened, but that Trudeau’s policies, including carbon pricing and a cap proposed to oil pollution that Alberta says amounts to a production cap — it gets in the way.
“We are telling Americans that we are their solution to energy security. We are your solution to energy affordability. You cannot bring that message to the table when you have these additional taxes and production limits on top of it,” he said.
“We have to have a cohesive message, and part of this will be a bit of a pushback for Justin Trudeau and some of the bad policies he’s enacted over the last few years.”
Trump has vowed to impose tariffs on his first day in office in January unless Canada addresses concerns about immigration and cross-border drug trafficking, particularly fentanyl.
Smith has called those issues legitimate and told Stephenson that the threat reflects concerns about Trudeau’s immigration and public safety policies that have not been aligned with tougher approaches favored by Trump and Republicans, as well as conservatives like her.
He 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 he has done have not worked and are now interfering with our trade relationship with the United States. And that should be everyone’s concern,” he said.
Get daily national news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic and current affairs headlines delivered to your inbox once a day.
Ottawa continues to consult on draft regulations That would reduce pollution from oil and gas producers by 35 percent below 2019 levels.
The Alberta government has said the cap would put energy supplies at risk and billions of dollars in lost revenue, as well as reduced jobs in the province. Canada is the largest foreign supplier of energy to U.S. reserves and the fourth-largest oil producer globally, with the majority of those products coming from Alberta.
In Fort MacMurray, Alta., where many of the province’s northern tar sands workers live, the possibility of the United States imposing tariffs on oil and gas has raised concerns.
“I think it will drive prices through the roof,” Todd Clarke told Stephenson. “We would probably see job cuts here.”
Brian White, who worked for Suncor Energy for decades after moving to the area in 1997, said he has seen the industry slow in recent years amid environmental regulations, and that U.S. tariffs would pose another challenge.
While he feels the provincial government takes the oil industry and its economic importance seriously, “it appears to be fighting an uphill battle with Ottawa,” where there is less support, he said.
“We need to look at this as a good thing for both countries, not just the United States or Canada,” he said. “My concern… is that I don’t know where Trudeau fits in that conversation. I don’t think Trump has much respect for him.
“We need strong leadership and I’m not sure we have that kind of leadership right now in Ottawa.”
Smith said Alberta has had representation in Washington, D.C. since 2005 to lobby its interests with the U.S. government and key states, and will continue to push those issues directly. He said he plans to attend Trump’s inauguration and is in regular contact with state governors.
“Increasingly, we have seen that we are the best advocates for our own interests and we will continue to build those relationships,” he said.
The prime minister rejected suggestions that direct communication could undermine the unified approach advocated after last week’s meeting between premiers and the federal government.
“I think it has to be an all-in approach,” he said.
“I’m going to talk to my counterparts across the country. But we are also going to argue to our American counterparts that Canada should get a waiver for many reasons.”
He reiterated that energy in Alberta must also be part of the conversation between the United States and Ottawa, and not just as leverage to get Trump to drop his threat.
“I don’t think we can come to the table with a ‘yes, but’: ‘Yes, but you need our oil so we don’t have to deal with those other things that concern you,’ he said. saying.
“I think it’s a ‘yes and’: ‘Yes, we can take care of these things and we can continue to have a great business relationship.’ “We have to take the issues raised by the administration seriously.”
Smith has called on Ottawa to take steps to further secure its borders and crack down on illegal trafficking of drugs and fentanyl products entering Canada from China, as well as eliminate “anti-energy” policies such as carbon pricing and caps. to pollution.
He said there is still time to address those issues in a way that convinces Trump to back down on his tariff threat, but “the clock is ticking.”
“I think it’s encouraging that he gave us two months’ notice,” he said. “I think that’s an indication that… he wants us to resolve these issues, because he might not have telegraphed it at all and then we would have been hit on January 20th.
“We now have two months to be able to come together as provinces and with the federal government to address these concerns in a meaningful way.”
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
