It turns out Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was the Canadian adult in the room during the tariff showdown with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Federal politicians huffed and puffed and almost blew up our house with hot air. Provincial premiers rushed to microphones to suggest what sacrifices other provinces should make to save theirs from tariffs. Meanwhile, Smith calmly put on a ball gown, filled her calendar with appointments south of the border and went to Trump’s inauguration.
Of course, she was mocked for the way she showed up, day after day, greeting state governors and other politicians south of the border.
Turns out, ball gown diplomacy works.
She earned a carve-out for the energy sector which would, had tariffs been implemented, set the rate at 10%, rather than 25% for all other Canadian goods.
It’s why we should listen to her now. Canada didn’t win a reprieve — just a stay of execution for 30 days. Smith warns we must move to eliminate the other trade irritants between our two countries.
“One conversation is the tariffs related to fentanyl and the second conversation is all of the irritations that the administration has with the CUSMA (Canada-U.S-Mexico) agreement, and I don’t think we should intermingle those two,” Smith said in a CTV interview.
She said the digital media tax, telecoms, banking industry and the protections Canada puts around sectors such as the dairy industry are stumbling blocks in talks with the U.S.
Those aren’t unreasonable demands. Last year, trade talks with the U.K. fell apart because of similar concerns over Canada’s dairy industry.
Meanwhile, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said that, if his party forms the next government, he would implement mandatory life sentences for people convicted of trafficking more than 40 milligrams of fentanyl.
In a video posted online, Poilievre said whatever your views on Trump, “We shouldn’t be taking action to stop drugs just to please him.”
Experts say two milligrams of fentanyl can kill a person.
These suggestions are sound. Trudeau is a lame-duck leader and Trump knows it. We need a federal election so we can bargain from strength, rather than weakness. And we must take tough measures on fentanyl — not to appease Trump, but to save Canadian lives.