Alberta, Canada, Premier Danielle Smith of the United Conservative Party told Breitbart News Saturday on Sirius XM that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau set Canada back in negotiations with America during his first meeting with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
Smith joined Breitbart News Washington bureau chief Matthew Boyle for a segment on the program where they discussed tariffs and the upcoming Canadian prime minister election.
When Boyle asked Smith how she thinks Trudeau has handled negotiations with President Donald Trump, she suggested Canada “got into a ditch” in the leaders’ initial Mar-a-Lago meeting. Trudeau and Trump met at Trump’s luxurious resort in Palm Beach, Florida, in November following the election.
“I can tell you, I think we got into a ditch with the very first meeting in Mar-a-Lago. I’ve seen the president reference many times since then the exchange–I think two blunders: One was the on the issue of NATO,” she said. “We know the American president expects for all of the trade partners to reach their two percent NATO commitment, and Canada still hasn’t committed to doing that until 2032, so I think that was one problem. And then, yes… he said that tariffs would result in Canada collapsing, and I think that was the wrong message to convey because it made us sound very, very weak.”
Smith added that Canada’s dependence on trade with the United States is “mutually beneficial.”
“I mean, we are definitely dependent on U.S. trade… We certainly have more dependence on U.S. trade than in any other market, but it’s mutually beneficial,” she said. “And I wish that we’d been able to convey earlier on just how much the Americans benefit from being able to buy cheap and discounted raw materials and intermediate products so they can do the value added to create American jobs and also keep prices lower for consumers.”
“That’s the partnership that we have. And Canada, in exchange, also becomes the principal buyer of American-produced products. We’re your biggest customers,” she added. “So I think that we started off on the wrong foot, and now we’ve been trying to get that information out because we really should maintain this tariff-free relationship between our two countries. Our industries are so integrated, and it’s good for both partners.”
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Trump signed an executive order Thursday delaying until April 2 the 25-percent tariffs he is imposing on Canada and Mexico. Canadian energy products will face a smaller ten-percent additional tariff when they go into effect next month.
When asked whether Trudeau was attempting to use the back and forth with Trump as a means to stay in power, considering he is on the brink of removal, Smith said, “No, Trudeau’s gone tomorrow.”
She said to expect “a new prime minister within the next couple of days.” The new prime minister will be tasked with setting an election for the next prime minister and will have “the latitude to go as long as October before they call an election if they can continue to get support in our legislature.”
She said the Liberal Party’s Chrystia Freeland or Mark Carney are the likeliest to succeed Trudeau, so one of them would set a date for an election for prime minister. The Liberal Party will hold a vote for their new leader on Sunday.
Smith also contended that the tariff war is harming conservatives’ chances in the upcoming election that will be set by Trudeau’s successor.
“Are the Canadian people ready to go back the other way here and go away from the liberal side that we’ve seen under Trudeau and whoever replaces him?” Boyle asked Smith.
He noted in his question that a conservative prime minister would likely have a better working relationship with Trump than a liberal prime minister.
“Before the tariff war, I would say yes. I mean, Pierre Poilievre is the name of the Conservative Party leader, and he was miles ahead of Justin Trudeau. But because of what we see as unjust and unfair tariffs, it’s actually caused an increase in the support for the liberals,” Smith responded. “And so that’s what I fear, is that the longer this dispute goes on, politicians posture, and it seems to be benefiting the Liberals right now. So I would hope that we could put things on pause is what I’ve told administration officials. Let’s just put things on pause so we can get through an election.”
She told Boyle that Poilievre, as prime minister, would open the door to a number of opportunities between Canada and the United States.
“Let’s have the best person at the table make the argument… and I think that’s Pierre Poilievre, and I do agree with you that… if we do have Pierre as our prime minister, then I think that there’s a number of things that we could do together,” Smith detailed. “Pierre believes in development. He believes in low-cost energy. He believes that we need to have low taxes, doesn’t believe in any of the woke stuff that we’ve seen taking over our politics for the last five years.
“So I would think that there’d be, there’s probably still always going to be areas that are skirmishes or disputes about particular industries when it comes to the border, but I would say, on balance, the perspective that Pierre would bring would be very much in sync with, I think…the new direction in America,” she added. “And I think we’d have a really great relationship for the period of time they’re both in.”
Breitbart News Saturday airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern.
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