Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the government will be moving to protect its shared border with Montana, with more details to be announced soon. Although Smith opposes any tariffs on Canadian or US products, she said it “is my view that President Donald Trump and the tens of millions of Americans who voted for him have valid concerns related to illegal migrants and drug smuggling at our shared border.” “We know that the problem is much more serious at the Mexican-US border; however, that does not diminish the need for the federal government and every province bordering the United States to take immediate steps to crack down heavily on these illegal border activities,” said Smith in a Wednesday statement. “Doing so is good for both the United States and Canada.” Smith started off by saying the Council of the Federation had a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss an approach to dealing with the 25% tariff on Canadian products threatened by the incoming Trump administration.In addition to speaking about the border, she expressed the need for the Canadian government “to aggressively move up compliance with our country’s NATO obligations of a 2% of GDP spend on our military forces, which is yet another concrete way to solidify our economic and military alliance with the United States.” Smith said she ensured Trudeau and the premiers understood the importance of recognizing the Trump administration’s commitment to energy security and that Alberta is in the best position to be a perfect partner to the US in achieving this objective. In response, she urged Trudeau to withdraw his oil and gas emissions cap immediately to show commitment to North American energy security and partnership. “In the coming months, my ministers and I will be working aggressively to reach out to our US allies involved with the incoming US administration and Congressional leadership to work on strengthening our economic and energy partnership and detailing the work that premiers across the country are actively engaged in to strengthen our nation’s border security,” she said. Smith said on Monday Trump’s team has valid concerns about illegal activities at the Canada-US border. .Smith says incoming Trump administration has realistic concerns about Canada-US border.She called on the Canadian government to work with the incoming Trump administration to resolve these issues immediately to avoid tariffs on exports to the US. “Fortunately, the vast majority of Alberta’s energy exports to the US are delivered through secure and safe pipelines, which do not in any way contribute to these illegal activities at the border,” she said.
