![\"Premier](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787676131_790_default.jpg\")
Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks to media at a housing development in Hamilton, on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (Nick Iwanyshyn\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\nAs Canadian premiers on Saturday decried U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s decision to impose 50 per cent tariffs on a swath of Canadian imports, political analysts say Alberta\u2019s premier took a markedly different tone than her colleagues.<\/p>\n
While premiers from most provinces and territories said they backed Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s decision to impose counter tariffs on U.S. goods, dollar for dollar, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on her regular radio call-in show that she worried about the effects of a trade war on Alberta farmers, furniture makers and apiarists. She encouraged the Canadian and U.S. negotiators to return to the bargaining table.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know emotionally it feels good to retaliate, I get that. But . . . when retaliation happens, it means that everybody who is buying products from the United States are now going to face upwards of 50 per cent tariffs,\u201d she said on the 880 CHED show, Your Province, Your Premier.<\/p>\n
Smith\u2019s diplomatic tone is driven by her attempt to stay in the good books of the U.S., which is Alberta\u2019s most voracious oil customer, said political scientist Elizabeth Smythe, professor emeritus at Concordia University of Edmonton.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe U.S. is not going to stop importing those fossil fuels,\u201d Smythe said. \u201cShe thinks what she’s doing is the better approach. Now, whether all Albertans agree with that is another story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks to media at a housing development in Hamilton, on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (Nick Iwanyshyn\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n
Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Monday said he aimed to get Smith \u2014 and other premiers \u2014 open to using any counter-tariffs possible to force the U.S. to back off.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has to be a Team Canada approach,\u201d Ford said at a press conference in Hamilton, Ont. \u201cEveryone has to be singing off the same song sheet and there can\u2019t be any detractors.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said, should U.S. tariffs escalate, Canada must be able to use counter-tariffs on oil and gas and potash exports as a tool<\/p>\n
\u201cA couple premiers have a lot of power to protect Canada’s massive power,\u201d Ford said, hinting at Smith and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe. \u201cI can’t speak for them, but we need everyone to be on Team Canada and throw everything in the kitchen sink at them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ford and Smith, conservative leaders and frequent allies, had a phone call Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n
In a written statement, Smith said she acknowledged the disproportionately steep impact the new tariffs will have on Ontario businesses and offered her support to strengthen the Canadian economy.<\/p>\n
However, cutting energy exports to the U.S. \u201cwould be extremely harmful to Canadians and is not a viable option,\u201d her statement said.<\/p>\n
Alberta premier in delicate balancing act<\/p>\n
Political observers say Smith\u2019s relatively tepid tone in response to new tariffs are in sync with her approach since the trade war began last year.<\/p>\n
Smith previously went on a charm offensive in the U.S., including a visit to Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, and speaking at events featuring right-wing influencers, in what she said were efforts to stave off tariffs.<\/p>\n
Strathmore, Alta.-based political analyst Deidre Mitchell-MacLean says the premier\u2019s inner circle finds it challenging to criticize a government they feel politically aligned with.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re seeing every other premier come out with their \u2014 let’s say \u2014 elbows up and Danielle Smith is not,\u201d Mitchell-MacLean said.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787676132_516_default.jpg\")
Deidre Mitchell-MacLean is a political analyst based in Strathmore, Alberta. (Submitted by Deidre Mitchell-MacLean)<\/p>\n
However, with an October referendum looming on whether Alberta should remain in Canada or hold a binding referendum on separation, and polling suggesting most Albertans support national unity, Mitchell-MacLean thinks Smith has little leeway to take a strong stance on the issue.<\/p>\n
Smith is caught, she says, between a political base that favours the idea of Alberta independence, and wanting to win a provincial general election in October 2027.<\/p>\n
Consultant Deron Bilous, who served as a minister of economic development and trade in Rachel Notley\u2019s Alberta NDP government, said there\u2019s little political risk to Ontario\u2019s premier proposing counter-tariffs that would cause his province minimal harm.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s quite easy to negotiate with somebody else\u2019s poker chips, which is what Doug Ford is doing,\u201d Bilous said.<\/p>\n
He said tariffing oil and gas exports would have \u201cmassive\u201d implications in Alberta, blowing a multi-billion dollar hole in the provincial budget, and causing the industry to halt any expansion or investment plans in the province.<\/p>\n
![\"NDP](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787676133_729_default.jpg\")
Deron Bilous was a cabinet minister in Rachel Notley’s Alberta NDP government from 2015 to 2019. (Emilio Avalos\/CBC)<\/p>\n
Although oil tariffs may be Canada\u2019s biggest trump card, Bilous questioned the wisdom of playing that card so early when Alberta is so reliant on the U.S. as a customer. Bilous said Smith knows this, which fuels her reluctance to support such a move.<\/p>\n
Bilous said he supports Carney\u2019s decision to take other counter-measures against Trump.<\/p>\n
\u201cBullies only respond to people that stand up to them,\u201d Bilous said. \u201cAnd the challenge with not imposing any kind of counter tariff on him \u2014 my fear is that it makes Canada look weak.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan Menzies, vice-president of Crestview Strategy, who has worked for both the United Conservative Party and the former Wildrose Party, said Smith\u2019s diplomatic approach has been effective so far, as Alberta exports remain less affected by U.S. tariffs.<\/p>\n
The provincial leader has to maintain positive relationships with any U.S. administration, given the importance of the American market, he said.<\/p>\n
Separation referendum is a bigger risk: analysts<\/p>\n
While Ford says a lack of unity among Canadian premiers is a liability in U.S. trade negotiations, the analysts CBC News spoke with on Monday are far more concerned about the Oct. 19 referendum as a perceived weakness in the federation Trump can exploit.<\/p>\n
Alberta voters will cast ballots on 10 referendum questions on Oct. 19, including a question about beginning a process to hold a binding vote on becoming an independent nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe timing is awkward, for sure,\u201d says Menzies, who added that Smith has been clear she will campaign to remain in Canada.<\/p>\n
Bilous said the nuances don\u2019t matter to investors, who shy away from uncertainty.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the perception is we don’t know if Alberta is going to stay in Canada, that has immediate economic development and investment attraction impact,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
WATCH | Critics comment on Premier Danielle Smith’s tariff approach:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787676133_27_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Why is Danielle Smith taking a different path in Canada’s trade war with the United States?<\/p>\n
As the trade war with the United States rages on, many of Canada’s premiers are rallying behind Prime Minister Mark Carney. Alberta’s leader is taking a different path. As CBC’s Sam Brooks reports, some commentators believe Danielle Smith is walking a political tightrope.<\/p>\n
Political scientist Smythe says Smith\u2019s approach makes her appear as a Trump sympathizer.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe’s already got that suspicion around her with this referendum,\u201d Smythe said. \u201cShe claims she\u2019s pro-staying in Canada. But if she moves too far in terms of appearing to be weak in her approach to standing up for Canada vis-\u00e0-vis the U.S., that’s a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Alberta NDP did not make anyone available for an interview Monday, but is holding a press conference in Calgary on Tuesday to call on the government to take steps in response to what it calls Trump\u2019s latest attack on Canadian sovereignty.<\/p>\n
“Danielle Smith has approved a separatism referendum to save her political skin from her own separatist base,\u201d NDP leader Naheed Nenshi said in a separate email statement. \u201cThis has weakened Canada in front of Donald Trump and the entire world.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Opposition is organizing a \u201cRally the Vote for Canada\u201d tour to encourage electors to vote for Alberta to remain in Canada.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Canadian premiers on Saturday decried U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s decision to impose 50 per cent tariffs on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":871101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-871100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}