Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s recent comments to right-wing U.S. media outlet Breitbart News have quickly drawn reaction from party leaders seeking to position themselves as the best option to manage a contentious relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Over the weekend, a resurfaced March 8 interview with Breitbart made the rounds on social media, in which Smith said the threat of “unjust and unfair tariffs” had boosted Liberal support.
“What I fear, is that the longer this dispute goes on, politicians posture, and it seems to be benefiting the Liberals right now,” Smith said.
“So I would hope that we could put things on pause, is what I’ve told administration officials. Let’s just put things on pause so that we can get through an election. Let’s have the best person at the table make the argument for how they would deal with it — and I think that’s Pierre Poilievre.”
Smith went on to say that, “on balance, the perspective that Pierre would bring would be very much in sync with, I think, with the new direction in America. And I think we’d have a really great relationship for the period of time they’re both in.”
The interview took place before Mark Carney was named leader of the Liberal Party, and before the election call. Sam Blackett, Smith’s press secretary, told CBC News on Sunday that any suggestion that Smith asked the U.S. to interfere in the Canadian election was “offensive and false.”
During a news conference held Monday, Stéphane Perrault, Canada’s chief electoral officer, was asked about Smith’s comments and whether he considered them to be foreign election interference.
Perrault said “elections interference” was not a term that is used in the Elections Act, but that there were a number of provisions in the act that may be relevant to foreign interference.
“For example, there is a provision on undue influence by foreign entities. There are rules on spending, and third-party activities,” he said. “The facts that you refer to do not trigger any of these.”
‘Shameful’
Speaking in Montreal on Monday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called the interview “shameful.”
“She’s talking about taking steps to harm the Liberals and to prevent tariffs in a political manner, to create a political outcome. She should be talking about stopping tariffs to protect Canadians, to just stop them entirely,” Singh said.
“To me, it’s very shameful what she’s doing. She’s literally playing games with peoples’ lives. Like, this isn’t a game. The tariffs aren’t a game to win or lose elections. It’s about people losing their jobs.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was also asked Monday by a reporter about Smith’s comments that he was “more aligned” with Trump’s agenda than his counterparts.
“People are free to make their own comments. I speak for myself,” Poilievre said.
“Let’s talk about my agenda. My agenda is to put Canada first for a change. There’s a reason why Donald Trump wants the weak, out-of-touch Liberals in power.”
Also on Monday, Liberal Leader Mark Carney was asked by reporters whether he had spoken to Trump since he took office, and what his government was doing to prepare for the promised April 2 tariffs.
“The president is waiting for the outcome of the election, and … who has a strong mandate from Canadians,” he said. “Is that someone who is, to quote Danielle Smith, who’s in sync with him?”
Could be problematic
Lisa Young, a University of Calgary professor of political science, said Smith’s comments don’t meet the threshold of “political interference” as defined by Elections Canada, but could still prove problematic.
“[Smith] really hasn’t done Poilievre and the Conservatives any favours here. There’s a quote about him being more favourable to working with the United States, that I think is likely to end up on a Liberal campaign ad at some point,” she told the Calgary Eyeopener on Monday.
At Issue special edition | As the federal election campaign begins, the panel discusses how U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies and threats against Canada have reshaped the race.
In a statement posted to X on Sunday, Smith wrote that she had been working “relentlessly” for several months “to convince U.S. officials at all levels just how damaging threatened tariffs will be to both Canadians and Americans.”
“I’ve also repeatedly asked those same officials to refrain from placing any tariffs on Canadian goods until a proper renegotiation of CUSMA can be held following our federal election with a Prime Minister that has won a mandate from Canadians to negotiate with the U.S. President,” she wrote.
