Leong: Danielle Smith’s U.S. tariffs diplomacy needs a reset

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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s been taking flak for recent appearances in the United States, part of her response to President Donald Trump’s trade war and musings about annexing Canada.

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From her direct lobbying efforts at Trump’s Mar a Lago resort in January to her onstage sit-down chat with conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro in Florida last week, Smith’s communications strategy south of the border has raised eyebrows.

Smith finally addressed this ongoing controversy in a fiery speech at the legislature last week.

“Now, all of a sudden, it’s apparently treason to talk to American media personalities that we disagree with,” Smith said. “It is disloyal to try and persuade high-profile Republicans holding influence with the president to abandon his tariff policies on Canada.”

Smith observed the sentiments against her seem to rise alongside that of Mark Carney, who became federal Liberal leader just in time to hit the hustings for the April 28 federal election.

“They want this lady and Alberta to just sit down and shut up. Well, here is my response to that — I will not be silent. Alberta will not be silent. We will not be pushed around and called traitors for merely having the courage to actually do something about our nation’s and province’s predicament, other than merely indulging in self-righteous tantrums.”

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Those running around calling Smith a traitor are engaging in unhelpful hyperbole.

If they’d bothered to read the Criminal Code entries for the charge of treason, they’ve quickly realize such an accusation probably wouldn’t have a chance in court.

This doesn’t mean, however, that some of Smith’s diplomatic tactics haven’t been politically problematic.

Let’s get this out of the way: She is totally right when she says it’s her job to advocate for Alberta and Canada in the face of unreasonable and unjustified tariffs levelled against this country by the Trump administration.

Some of the venues of her appearances were fine.

While rubbing shoulders with Trump and Trump-adjacent individuals at his resort to talk up Alberta’s reliability as an energy source turned into a dud, it was worth a shot. Same with going to Washington with the Council of the Federation.

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Showing up on Fox News — as did other premiers — was a good call. And it seems reasonable enough for Smith to share her pro-trade/anti-tariff message to the people who need to hear it most — and a good way to reach them would be through right-wing podcasts and streams with a certain flavour, shall we say. (I’m sure those audiences got a kick out of seeing her Gadsden flag.)

Smith went over the line a few times

However, there are very specific instances during which Smith went over the line.

One would be something she said during an interview with conservative media outlet Breitbart on March 8 but that only resurfaced recently.

In addition to all the usual reasons to push back against U.S. tariffs, she added one more: the unexpected lift for the previously moribund federal Liberals, to the detriment of her favoured party.

At least she was being candid. But the idea of actively injecting partisan politics in a diplomatic trans-border matter is unconventional and inappropriate at best, but offensive and distasteful at worst.

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International trade arrangements aren’t meant to benefit any one person or any one political persuasion. They are meant to give everyone better economic opportunities.

Leave the party politics at home. It’s our business and no one else’s.

The other instance of Smith going off-side would be her appearance in Florida on Thursday, mentioned earlier.

It’s not the fact that she wanted to hang out with podcaster Shapiro, or have access to a live audience to talk about how tariffs are terrible and to make jokes about the threat of annexation.

It was the substance of the event — a fundraiser Shapiro was hosting on behalf of PragerU, a producer of conservative educational material “promoting pro-American values.” It describes its content as “a free alternative to the dominant left-wing ideology in culture, media and education.”

For Smith to show up at such an event and help someone raise funds is akin to an endorsement. Is this something a sitting premier should be doing, even if the primary goal is to persuade Americans that Trump’s tariffs are bad?

Yes, Smith should continue to advocate for Alberta in the United States and fly the flag of free trade. However, it might be wise for her to reconsider how and where she does it.

rleong@postmedia.com

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