No more backing into the ropes. No more arms up. No more explanations on demand. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is back after getting beaten down by the NDP over the AHS controversy and lobbying trips to the US.
Smith rose up from the canvas on Wednesday, bruised and blemished, and delivered a knockout punch to NDP/Liberals — offering the greatest speech of her career.
Speaking in the context of her upcoming diplomacy trip to the U.S. — for which she has been called a traitor and racist for appearing alongside Jewish conservative Ben Shapiro at a PragerU event — Smith's right hook sent the NDP teetering — raining down political blood and spittle over the house.
Smith defended the UCP's aggressive push against threatened U.S. tariffs, accusing critics of undermining Alberta and Canada’s sovereignty. She referenced U.S. President Donald Trump’s initial tariff threats.
“Trump first announced his threatened tariffs against Canada and began musing about our country becoming the 51st state, many Canadians and Albertans feel fear for their futures."
"And why? Because, regardless of our political stripe, we all knew that the imposition of 25% tariffs on all Canadian goods to the U.S. would cost the jobs of hundreds of thousands of Canadians, would depress our economy, devastate our budget, and damage the sovereignty of our country.”
Smith highlighted a united front among premiers and Canadians in the months before the recent federal election call, “other than perhaps the Alberta NDP,” to lobby U.S. officials against the measures.
Smith accused Prime Minster Mark Carney and the NDP of flip-flopping, saying, “Enter Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney. Now all of a sudden, it’s apparently treason to talk to American media personalities that we disagree with.”
Smith blasted their “talking points,” saying, “Their end game is quite obvious, frighten and divide Canadians. Try and make Canadians forget the utter incompetence of Liberal and NDP policies that have been inflicted on this country over the last 10 years.”
Smith pointed to policies under Liberal and NDP leaders that she said “have landlocked our immense natural resources” and “disastrously weakened our security and military,” leaving Canada “poorer than Americans, overly dependent on the Americans, and vulnerable.”
She touted UCP efforts, saying, “My ministers, officials and I have spent hundreds of hours over the last several months talking with lobbyists, educating and persuading every U.S. lawmaker and media influencer that was willing to listen about how damaging and wrong headed imposing tariffs on Canada would be.”
She contrasted this with the NDP’s response.
“Did we turn into part time Tiktok rage farmers to stir up as much fear and loathing of Americans as humanly possible? No, that’s what the Nenshi NDP did, of course, but Alberta’s UCP government, we did not.”
With steel and aluminum tariffs already in place but broader tariffs stalled, Smith credited her outreach — backed by premiers like Scott Moe, Tim Houston, and Doug Ford — saying, “The tariffs on remaining Canadian goods sit at zero today, rather than 25%.”
She criticized the NDP’s inaction, saying, “Had the Nenshi NDP been in charge during this period, we would likely have long ago been hit with across the board 25% tariffs and lost 1000s of Alberta jobs already because the NDP have no idea what diplomacy is.”
Looking ahead to the tariff deadline, Smith vowed to continue her fight, including the upcoming U.S. trip to speak with a major podcaster.
She rebuffed Carney’s call to stay silent, declaring, “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.”
Smith concluded, “They’re going to have to roll me off in a stretcher before I will stop fighting for our province and our people.”