Smith comments an affront to democracy, if not the law

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/03/2025 (219 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith just can’t keep her story straight, and Canadians are paying the price.

On the March 8 episode of Breitbart News Saturday, a U.S. radio show broadcast to the world via satellite radio, she said that the threat of “unjust and unfair tariffs” imposed by the Trump administration on Canadian goods, services and commodities was causing support for the Liberals to increase.

She told the interviewer that “It seems to be benefiting the Liberals right now … So I would hope that we could put things on pause, is what I’ve told administration officials. Let’s just put things on pause so that we can get through an election. Let’s have the best person at the table make the argument for how they would deal with it — and I think that’s Pierre Poilievre.”

She added that “on balance, the perspective that Pierre would bring would be very much in sync with, I think, with the new direction in America. And I think we’d have a really great relationship for the period of time they’re both in.”

A recording of Smith’s comments was posted on social media last weekend, so she can’t deny what she said. Those are her words and, to many Canadians, they appear to be clear evidence that she interceded with a foreign government for the purpose of impacting the outcome of the federal election campaign that is now in process.

In other words, it appears that she was soliciting foreign interference in a Canadian election, for the benefit of Poilievre and his team of Conservative candidates.

Smith’s press secretary says that any suggestion that the premier asked the U.S. to interfere in Canada’s election is “offensive and false.” Smith herself told media on Monday that when she asked the Trump administration to pause its tariffs against Canada, she was really trying to prevent interference in the election, not encourage it.

Canadians can draw their own conclusions as to what Smith’s true motivations were, but Canada’s Privy Council office says her actions are not being investigated because they do not meet the legal definition of foreign election interference under the Foreign Interference and Security Information Act. That is because her comments were not kept secret and were not directed by a foreign entity. Rather, they were directed by Smith herself.

Her request to the Trump team may not violate any law, but that does not obscure the fact that it was clearly intended to influence the outcome of the election — and that is unforgivable in the judgment of many Canadians, including many prominent Conservatives.

Ken Boessenkool was a senior adviser to former prime minister Stephen Harper. On Sunday, he posted on social media that Smith is “unfit for office.” He told the Globe and Mail on Monday that “You’re asking a foreign power to maybe change a policy to maybe benefit one political party over another, and even if it’s your political party or whatever, that’s just not how we do politics in Canada.”

He’s right, of course. Smith’s comments reek of the crass opportunism that we see far too often in today’s politics. Beyond that, the optics of a provincial premier seeking to make common cause with a foreign government that appears intent on annexing Canada is both unacceptable and unbecoming.

Smith has done serious harm to our nation and to the Conservative Party’s hopes of winning the election. She has effectively told the Americans we are a divided nation, and that “Team Canada” is more of a myth than a unified team.

Even worse, she has undermined our national strategy for responding to the U.S. tariffs and has sent a clear signal that there are ideological fault lines within Canada that can be exploited by the Trump administration as part of the current trade dispute. Far from adhering to her legal duty to protect Albertans, and her ethical duty to act in the national interest, she has weakened our bargaining position and made Canada more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation by her friends in Washington. Yet again, she has sold us out.

We agree with Alberta NDP Leader (and former Calgary mayor) Naheed Nenshi, who says that “Danielle Smith’s comments during her Breitbart interview are antithetical to democracy.” For that reason, we also agree with Boessenkool that she is unfit to serve as a premier.

If Smith has any sense of remorse — any sense of integrity — she should resign.