
Trudeau singles out Alberta premier for not putting ‘Canada first’ in break with other provinces
Trudeau says he doesn’t ‘blame’ Smith for speaking up for her province’s oil patch in light of the threat of U.S. tariffs, but said every other premier ‘chose to put Canada first’
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday singled out Alberta Premier Danielle Smith as being the only provincial leader to act against Canada’s national interest, after she refused to sign a statement supporting the country’s approach to incoming U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs.
Trudeau and the 13 provincial and territorial leaders had met in Ottawa Wednesday to discuss how to strengthen the country’s ties to Americans at a time when Trump is threatening to impose a 25-per-cent tariff on all Canadian exports. They also talked about retaliatory tariffs Canada is preparing, should the president-elect make good on his threat.
Smith, who appeared virtually, was the lone premier not to sign Alberta’s name to a statement issued by the group, which emphasized their commitment to work together on “a full range of measures” should the U.S. hit Canada with tariffs. Smith had earlier in the week made it clear that she would not stand for suggestions from other provinces and federal Liberals about using Alberta oil as a weapon to fight Trump.
Speaking to reporters in Windsor, Ont. on Thursday, Trudeau says he doesn’t “blame” Smith for speaking up for her province’s oil patch, but said every other premier, many of whom disagree with him regularly, “chose to put Canada first.”
“Premiers should be advocating for their own industries, their own communities, but they should also put their country first as every single premier except Danielle Smith did.”
Reached for comment, Sam Blackett, a spokesman for Smith pointed to a statement the premier made on X, where she criticized what Trudeau has called his “Team Canada” approach. Smith is currently out of the country.
GOLDSTEIN: In Trudeau’s vision of himself, he was always the chosen one
Trudeau lied to the world that Canada has no core identity, no mainstream, is systemically racist, genocidal and with a history nothing short of shameful. All his descriptors of this magnificent country and which that he spouted on the world stage. Today the vast majority recognize him to be an historically ignorant, ungrateful, trash talking, insufferable narcissistic anti-Canadian globalist.
In Trudeau’s vision on each of these issues there is a morally correct position – his – and those who do not share it are not merely wrong but motivated by ill intentions.
Over and over again Trudeau, as Canada’s divider-in-chief, has addressed such complex issues by creating a villain – the latest in a long line of them being Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, for defending the economy of her province, which is her job – and then attacking that villain, in Smith’s case by questioning her loyalty to Canada.
https://tinyurl.com/fc6kpcue