Trump shouldn't join Alberta's secession debate, Smith tells U.S.-Canada Summit
TORONTO — When it comes to Canada’s relationship with the United States, Ontario Premier Doug Ford says “we have to think beyond” Donald Trump’s presidency. Meanwhile, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Trump should not be involved in the conversation about the province’s separatist movement.
Trump only has three more years in office and “is not going to be around forever,” the premier said while speaking at the U.S.-Canada Summit in Toronto on Wednesday. Ford’s comments come a day after Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Trump at the White House and left without any concessions on tariffs.
“I always plan five, 10, 15 years down the road. We’ll get through it. There might be some bumps on the road, but I’ll tell you one thing. I will not roll over,” he said.
Ford said the politicians that he speaks to, including Republicans, are “terrified to come out and say anything” against tariffs. Canada is expected to “play fair” and not fight back. “But I take a different approach,” he said. He said Trump decides to go after Canadian industries, like softwood lumber and steel, “out of the blue.” Copper and auto parts not covered by the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement are also being heavily tariffed. A new detailed trade deal has yet to be revealed after Carney and Trump’s latest White House meeting.
“As we’re decreasing the tariffs, he’s increasing the tariffs. Well, if we can’t get a deal, we have to hit him back twice as hard,” he said, calling Ontario an economic powerhouse. “We need them, but they need us as well.”
He said he wouldn’t put American liquor back on the shelves until a deal was reached.
As for the auto sector, Ford said it’s “so integrated” with the United States, you just can’t separate it overnight.” Trump on Tuesday said that the U.S. was at an advantage because of its “massive market.”
But Ford said Ontario would continue to make automobiles, which it has been doing for 100 years. He also said Canada was a powerhouse when it came to buying vehicles.
Ford was asked if he thought Canada was asleep at the switch in failing to tap the leverage the country has, especially in regards to resources like minerals. He was also asked how he thought Carney was handling the situation.
“I’m in support of the prime minister, but I think we have to be tougher,” said Ford, adding that it’s the provincial government that is in charge of its own minerals. “I would love to sell our critical minerals to our closest friends and allies,” he said — “not foes.”
Smith, also speaking at the summit on Wednesday, said Canada’s minerals, along with its raw materials and energy, could be used as leverage when dealing with Trump, but it had to be done in a way that appealed to the president.
“If you go to the U.S. president and say, ‘You should do this because it helps me,’ or ‘You should stop doing this because it hurts me’… That is not his love language,” said Smith. “His love language is, ‘Let me tell you how I can make America even greater. Let me tell you how Canada being able to provide you raw materials or critical minerals or energy and natural gas allows you to have energy dominance in the world.”
She thought that Carney was already adapting how he interacts with Trump. She called Trump a “relationship guy.” And the lack of a good relationship with former prime minister Justin Trudeau “led to a lot of the problems that we’ve found ourselves in today.”
Smith, who recently announced Alberta would be taking steps to build a new oil pipeline to the West Coast, again pushed for Carney “to get rid of, or substantially modify, the nine bad laws that have impacted our investment climate in the first place.”
She brought up a petition circulating in the province asking Albertans if they want to continue to be part of Canada. With the number of signatures necessary to trigger a referendum expected to be reached, there would be a vote in the spring.
“I want that vote to be, ‘Yes, we do want to remain part of Canada,’ but I cannot control the emotions of Albertans if the answer every time we put a project forward is, ‘No, we can’t do that. No, we’re not going to change that law. No, you should just be satisfied with what you’ve got,'” she said.
“I’ve told the prime minister, ‘Your predecessor, Justin Trudeau, created a separatist movement in Alberta, but you can cause it to dissipate.'”
She was asked if she would welcome it if Trump weighed in on the issue.
“I don’t want any foreign influence in our politics here,” she said.
The U.S. government has not commented publicly about Alberta’s independence, but earlier this week, a prominent separatist group, Alberta Prosperity Project, said it had secured a cabinet-level meeting with the Trump administration .
Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.