Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is under fire after requesting U.S. officials to pause tariff levies during the federal election after noticing an uptick in Liberal support during the Canada-U.S. trade war.
Smith made the comments on a recent podcast episode of Breitbart News on Saturday to discuss the ongoing tariff war and Canada’s sovereignty.
Halfway through the interview, host Matthew Boyle asks Smith if she believes Canadians are ready to vote for a Conservative leader, suggesting that a right-winged leader could potentially work better with Trump, to which she responds “before the tariff war I would say, yes.”
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“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 actually caused an increase in support for the Liberals,” Smith said.
As a result, Smith admitted to telling U.S. officials to “put things on pause,” until after the election.
“Lets have the best person at the table, make the argument for how they can get through it, and I think that’s Pierre Poilievre,” she said.
Smith’s endorsement of Poilievre did not stop there, she then went on to say that his leadership would be “in sync” with the new direction of America, and that the two countries would have a great relationship because of him.
A recent poll from Liaison Strategies shows the Liberals with a 38 per cent lead, followed by the Conservatives trailing closely behind with 36 per cent.
Canadians did not take kindly to Smith’s attempt at making an argument to pause tariffs on the basis of a potential Conservative Party federal election win, some even going as far as calling the move “election interference.”
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“Asking a foreign country to interfere in our elections is a betrayal of every Canadian. Left, right, or centre — we all should be outraged,” one X user said.
“That’s not leadership, that’s betrayal,” another user added.
Some social media users went on to say that they’ve reported the interview to Elections Canada for investigation, meanwhile other social media users saw no issue with Smith’s words, and feel she’s being misunderstood.
“She’s suggesting a pause in the tariff dispute to ensure the issue is handled by the right leader at the right time. Her focus is on finding a fair resolution, not manipulating the election,” one Threads user said.
Smith took to X after the interview to post a statement seemingly clarifying the comments that were made, and suggesting that pausing the tariffs were also rooted in concerns for both Americans and Canadians, but also remained firm in believing that the tariffs should be paused during the election.
For the last several months, I, and many of my fellow Premiers, have been working relentlessly to convince U.S. officials at all levels just how damaging threatened tariffs will be to both Canadians and Americans.
— Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) March 23, 2025
I’ve also repeatedly asked those same officials to refrain from…
“Now that an election has been called I would reiterate my hope that the United States would refrain from placing tariffs on their closest ally and largest trading partner during the middle of the election,” the statement read.
Prime Minister Mark Carney officially called a snap election on Sunday, with Canadians set to cast their ballots on April 28.
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