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Vol. 20, No. 26, Wednesday, April 2, 2025 www.LamontLeader.com
Premier Smith discusses tariffs at sold out event BY JOHN MATHER Alberta Premier Danielle Smith gave a strong pep talk to more than 500 supporters during a Strathcona Sherwood Park Constituency town hall March 25. Smith was invited to the Strathcona Sherwood Park Constituency by MLA Nate Glubish, Alberta’s Minister of Technology and Innovation. The evening was a frank discussion between the premier and MLA with Glubish posing questions and then having Smith discuss the topics. At the end some questions were invited from the audience. “This is amazing,” said Smith as she greeted the audience. Of course trade and tariffs dominated the discussion. “We’ve all been blindsided by this,” admitted Smith. “We look at ourselves as America’s best friend and trading partner and ally in both war and trade around the world. “We were all surprised when the first action the president took after being elected was to say he was going to put massive tariffs on Canada,” Smith stated. “I understand the emotion people have and they feel betrayed but we have to look and see if we can figure out a way to a better outcome,” she said. “The first round of tariffs were based on us not meeting the border security issue but I think we’ve addressed this. “We were able to avoid the 25 per cent tariffs and make the argument that energy resources should be taxed at a lower rate.” Smith added it was now a waiting game to see where tariffs went after the start of April. She said having a virtually tariff free relationship with the U.S, was best for both Canada and the Americans and that was the argument that had to be
Trudeau had with Donald Trump in
“... do we embrace trading with each other and Mar A Largo. supporting each other. That is the question “Two things he did wrong,” she said. “When asked about our two per that should be answered on April 28,” cent NATO commitment Trudeau said Premier Danielle Smith
Premier Danielle Smith with Minister Nate Glubish discussed Alberta and Canadian political issues at Festival Place in Sherwood Park, March 25. put forward. Smith pointed out Alberta had had a presence in Washington, D.C. since 2005 and had seen it to be in Alberta’s interests to work with the U.S, She added she was a member of the Western Governor’s Association in order to maintain strong links between our province and the western U.S. states. She added the province kicked the province’s presence into a higher gear last year when it started attending the major CERA Oil and Gas energy conference in Houston, Texas. She told the crowd that she put forth the argument that rather than reduce energy production, she wanted to double it and help achieve North American
energy dominance. She added that under the previous Biden administration they had pursued a similar energy strategy to the Liberal/NDP coalition in Ottawa. “What a reversal we’ve seen since this administration came in, and to see every province in Canada say the carbon tax in Canada is a terrible idea. “That’s a massive reversal” Smith stated. “And it’s because of a lot of advocacy.” Glubish then asked her about the Team Canada approach and the stubbornness of some of the eastern provinces. She said to understand the situation with the Americans, one had to go back to the “terrible meeting” Justin
he wouldn’t do that until 2032, and I’ll tell you that was the wrong answer.” He added what the impact of 25 per cent tariffs would be and Trudeau replied, “our country would collapse.” That stuck with Trump. Trump felt Canada couldn’t defend itself and he felt it wasn’t really then a country. She said that conversation showed what ten years of Liberal leadership had done to Canada, eroding national pride, eroding the military, eroding the relationship between the regions and the worst part was to shatter investor confidence in our industries. She added the Liberals compounded that with the tanker ban of the west coast and emissions caps on oil and methane. “And then they want to put energy on the table as a bargaining chip with the U.S. against the imposition of tariffs,” said Smith. “They know how important energy is and they don’t care.” She added they had tried to keep it in the ground for the past ten years and everything they had done had made Canada weaker and weaker. She said it was why the upcoming election was important. “Do we just continue with a different face slapped on the leadership?” she asked. “All these same decisions or do we embrace trading with each other and supporting each other. That is the question that should be answered on April 28,” During the presentation Smith and Glubish also touched on health, education, technology and jobs issues.