Alberta Premier Danielle Smith visits Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith visited Mar-a-Lago, the Florida home of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, on Saturday.

Smith confirmed the visit in a social media post Sunday morning, in which she said she and Trump had a “friendly and constructive conversation.”

“I emphasized the mutual importance of the U.S.-Canadian energy relationship, and specifically, how hundreds of thousands of American jobs are supported by energy exports from Alberta,” Smith’s post said.

“I was also able to have similar discussions with several key allies of the incoming administration and was encouraged to hear their support for a strong energy and security relationship with Canada.”

Other social media posts showed Smith, along with Canadian celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary and psychologist and media personality Jordan Peterson, posing for photographs in the Palm Beach mansion.

O’Leary has courted controversy recently by expressing support for the idea of an economic union between Canada and the U.S., an idea he has promised to raise with the incoming American president.

In December, Smith said she would attend Trump’s inauguration ceremony in Washington on Jan. 20.

As well as attending the inauguration, Smith will be hosting several events in Washington and hopes to meet with energy groups, congresspeople, and various officials, according to a spokesperson.

That announcement came in the wake of threats from Trump, who has said he would impose 25 per cent tariffs if Canada and Mexico do not enact measures to tackle illegal immigration and drug smuggling into the United States.

Alberta responded to those threats by introducing plans to invest $29 million to create a border patrol team under the command of the Alberta Sheriffs.

Featuring 51 officers, as well as patrol dogs, surveillance drones and narcotics analyzers, the team is designed to intercept illegal attempts to cross the border, and attempts to bring drugs or firearms across the international boundary with the U.S.

Other provincial leaders are approaching the issue differently. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has spoken out against the tariffs in international media, as well as Trump’s threat to make Canada the 51st U.S. state.

Ford last week pitched an “renewed strategic alliance” for Canada and the U.S. on energy. Ontario and Manitoba have also launched new border security measures.

In an interview that aired Sunday on NBC, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Trump’s talk about Canada becoming the 51st state is intended to distract people on both sides of the border from the real issue — the threat of 25 per cent tariffs.

“[Trump] likes to keep people a little off balance. The 51st state — that’s not going to happen. It’s just a non-starter,” Trudeau said.  

“Canadians are incredibly proud of being Canadian, but people are now talking about that as opposed to talking about, for example, the impact of 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum coming into the United States — on energy, whether it’s oil and gas or electricity. I mean, no American wants to pay 25 per cent more for electricity or oil and gas coming in from Canada. And that’s something that I think people need to pay a little more attention to.”

Smith has previously said she doesn’t support tariffs on either Canadian or U.S. goods because the result makes life more expensive for everyday Canadians and Americans.

According to Mount Royal University political scientist Lori Williams, if Smith is representing Canada’s interests and presenting a united front with other provincial and federal leaders, then visits like this one to Mar-a-Lago can bear fruit. 

“When she’s speaking for Canada, for Canada’s interest, she can be quite effective and she can reach an audience that some others cannot,” Williams told CBC News.

The problems begin, Williams said, when the premier speaks only for Alberta.

“If … the message is my province and its industries are most important and I don’t like the federal government and I don’t care about the industries in other provinces, if that’s the sort of thing that’s going on, then that’s going to be counterproductive. It’s not going to help Canada. It’s actually going to put us in a weaker, rather than in a stronger position.”

Smith says Alberta is taking a diplomatic approach to attempt to avoid Trump’s tariffs on behalf of all Canadians.

“I will continue to engage in constructive dialogue and diplomacy with the incoming administration and elected federal and state officials from both parties, and will do all I can to further Alberta’s and Canada’s interests,” Smith’s Sunday post said.