EDMONTON — Former Alberta Premier Alison Redford says Alberta's oil and gas should be used as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations with the U.S., claiming that Alberta is either on Team Canada or not. "I think it's a Canadian resource, and if we're going to have dollar-for-dollar consequence to the trade discussion or war, or dialogue that's going to go on, that has to be part of it," said Redford on Monday during an interview with CBC. Redford said Canada would appear weak if it were to negotiate without its strongest asset, Alberta's oil, even being on the table, with the U.S. amid the ongoing trade war. .Alberta's energy has been a key point of discussion throughout much of the conflict, as leaders outside Alberta have called on Prime Minister Mark Carney to at least threaten to cut the flow of energy into the U.S. Carney has been reluctant to even threaten to do so thus far, and Smith has clearly said she is fighting to prevent Canada from making a "very dumb decision" by bringing energy into the negotiations. "It's always been a benefit for Canada; It's been a benefit for our province," Redford said. "We've certainly been able to rely on Canadian support for things like the recent pipeline discussion, which gets us off to the west coast.""But I think the converse to that is we have to be prepared to understand and to connect to the fact that it's a Canadian resource and it has to be part of this discussion. It can't be separate."On Monday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Canada should get Alberta on board with cutting the gas supply needed to fuel the cars and trucks that U.S. President Donald Trump has targeted in recent attacks. .One argument against using Alberta's oil in negotiations is the risk of inflaming Alberta's independence sentiment, especially given that Trump's 50% tariff on $28 billion in Canadian goods affects only 3% of Alberta's economy. Redford said that is a risk, but individuals who are "Team Canada" when it comes to the October referendum must also be "Team Canada" on the trade war. "Ontario industry is going to suffer," Redford said. "Quebec industry is going to suffer very directly because of the discussions that the U.S. have raised and the terms that they've set on these tariffs. We don't get impacted exactly the same way, and we have to understand that and appreciate that.""So, we either are Team Canada or we're not. And I guess in Alberta, in the next week or so, we'll start to see more people maybe paying attention to the referendum and thinking about it that way." Ford claims to have scheduled a call with Smith to discuss what they need to do to “protect Canada.”
