EDITORIAL: Fighting tariffs with one arm tied

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Liberal Leader Mark Carney needs to drop the dismissive tone towards Alberta and its concerns or risk deepening Western alienation. 

The pearl-clutching by his supporters any time Alberta Premier Danielle Smith comments on tariffs demonstrates a thin-skinned response by an overly defensive Liberal elite that has no clue and appears not to care about the West’s perspective. 

Smith was criticized recently for telling U.S. media outlet Breitbart that American President Donald Trump should back off on tariff talk while the Canadian election is on. This was interpreted as supporting foreign interference in our election. Smith’s critics said she should have been telling Trump to back off on tariffs for good.  

Where have they been? Smith has been in Washington doing just that. And she was criticized for doing so. Her comments to Breitbart were the reverse of inviting foreign interference. Smith was telling U.S. politicians not to meddle in our vote. 

You have to think the faux furore the Liberals are creating around her statements is meant as a smokescreen to hide the fact they’re ignoring Smith’s requests to lift barriers on the oil and gas industry that the Trudeau government put in place over the last 10 years. 

Among other requests, Smith wants an end to the tanker ban off the B.C. coast, a repeal of federal legislation, Bill C-69, that limits new pipelines and oversight of the industrial carbon tax returned to the provinces. 

This week, Carney announced a $2-billion bailout for Ontario’s auto sector, ahead of the April 2 tariffs. That’s on top of billions the feds have already poured into tax breaks and subsidies for car companies and EV battery makers. 

Fair enough, we need to support workers whose livelihoods are threatened by the U.S. actions. But Carney is rolling the dice in a high stakes game. By undermining the West, he risks national unity.  

We must stop crippling our economy from within, with policies such as Net Zero, that make it more difficult for Canada to be competitive. 

In unleashing devastating tariffs on key industries, the U.S. has declared economic war on Canada. Carney’s virtue-signalling would force us to fight it with one arm tied behind our back.