Danielle Smith needs to choose Team Canada over Team MAGA

By Lethbridge Herald on March 11, 2025.

Gil McGowan – ALBERTA FEDERATION OF LABOUR

Danielle Smith is a traitor.

There, I said it.

It’s what many Albertans have been thinking but have been afraid to  say out loud.

How else can we describe our Premier’s response to the unprecedented  economic warfare launched against our country by American President  Donald Trump?

Trump says he wants to make us the 51st state.

He says he’ll continue inflicting economic pain on us until we bend to  his will.

He makes up stories about fentanyl, criminals and trade deficits to  justify breaking legally-binding trade agreements with us.

Smith’s response to these provocations has been, at best, a day late  and a dollar short.

Yes, she belatedly promised to pull American booze off the shelves,  cancel some contracts with American suppliers and encourage Albertans  to buy Canadian.

But, those promises came long after similar announcements were made by  other Premiers.

More significantly, Smith continues to argue that Trump is a man we  can reason with.

Recently, she said the best way forward for Canadians is to elect  leaders who Trump likes and who are prepared to give him “some wins.”

When was the last time that giving your lunch money to the school  bully was a winning strategy?

We all know that caving in to bullies gives them power and encourages  them to keep coming back for more. How is this simple lesson lost on  our Premier?

Even worse, Smith has explicitly ruled out using our most powerful bargaining chip: our oil.

The contrast with Ontario Premier Doug Ford – a fellow Conservative – couldn’t be more stark.

On the day that Trump imposed his on-again-off-again tariffs on  Canada, Ford hit back with a promise to restrict exports of  electricity to millions of businesses and households in the American  northeast.

Ford’s tough stand contributed to Trump’s decision to back down on  imposing tariffs, at least until April 2.

Smith, on the other hand, has surrendered in advance.

Even though refineries in the American Midwest are essentially 100 percent dependent on oil from Alberta, Smith has explicitly ruled out using export restrictions (or even the threat of such restrictions) as  a tactic to put pressure on Trump.

Sadly, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has joined Smith in the spineless club. Saskatchewan provides nearly 100 percent of the potash that US farmers need to fertilize their crops. But, like Smith, Moe has ruled out using his province’s strategic resources as leverage to defend Canada.

How does telling your opponent that you have no intention of playing  your strongest cards make any sense? This is the opposite of the “art  of the deal.” It’s a recipe for defeat.

At the end of the day, Trump is a problem that only Americans can solve.

Americans need to defeat Trump’s party in the midterm Congressional elections in 2026. And they need to engage in massive protests in the meantime.

American businesspeople – other than Trump’s billionaire “techbro” backers like Elon Musk – also need to step up and rally against what even the Wall Street Journal has characterized as the “dumbest trade war in history.”

The best way that Canadians can help nudge American voters, citizens and businesspeople in the right direction is to make them feel (or at  least fear) some serious economic pain.

Big power bills and blackouts in New York. High prices and long  lineups for gasoline in Detroit and Clevland. High prices and empty  shelves in American supermarkets.

These are not the kind of outcomes Canadians want – but they are likely the only things that will move the needle with Trump. Selfies  at Mar-a-Largo or cocktails with Republican governors certainly  haven’t done the trick.

It’s time for our Premier to change course and actually stand up to  the bully. If she doesn’t want to be called a traitor – or a coward, a  weakling, or an inept negotiator – then she’s going to have to make it  clear that she’s on Team Canada, not team MAGA.

Gil McGowan is President of the Alberta Federation of Labour, a  coalition of 26 public and private sector unions, representing 175,000  Alberta workers.