Danielle Smith admits to calling for foreign interference in Canada's election

It's time for Albertans to stand up.

When Canadians united against the threats from Donald Trump, it was a beautiful thing. We took back the flag out of love for our country, regardless of who was in power in Ottawa.

It felt different, to both us and those who had claimed them for their own partisan purposes before, and it carried with it hope rather than hate.

Here in Alberta, where separatist sentiment and western alienation thrives in small pockets of the province, and was even elevated to the Premier’s Office, there’s been a noticeable effort to resist Team Canada — especially from the Premier’s Office.

We aren’t the only ones who noticed that the rise in patriotism, that steadfast response to an outside threat to our right to self-determination as Canadians, had nothing to do with political ideology. And it was a threat to those who were using it for those purposes.

Our Premier has long had an affinity for American culture, and policy, and even managed to convince herself that once she became premier, she would have powers like that of a State Governor.

Her lack of knowledge of the role of a provincial premier forced the Ministry of Justice to hold a meeting where they could inform her of those differences and bring her up to speed on what she could, and could not, do as premier.

Her allegiance has perhaps not always been divided, but it was definitely circumspect before the general election in 2023. More than that, though, was an awareness by many conservatives that she did not have the bare minimum level of competence to lead the province, nor the ability to acknowledge her own weaknesses sufficiently to surround herself with those who could fill the gaps.

When the options were to “lend” their vote to a party that hadn’t earned their trust, or vote for another they didn’t trust, many — according to voter turnout, which dropped eight points from 2019 — stayed home.

Ken Boessenkool, former advisor to Stephen Harper, and former economic policy wonk for Ralph Klein, on X. Danielle Smith on U.S. MAGA media affiliate Breitbart.

It wasn’t just that she’d stabbed her own party, and everyone who voted for the Wildrose and herself, in the back at the first opportunity to better her own circumstances; though I’m sure, for some, the memory of that betrayal played a role.

For me, the ease with which she betrayed voters, and her party, and her justification for it after the fact, raised far too many flags as soon as she decided she had the “in” to try and influence Republicans after Donald Trump won the election.

Danielle Smith has the ability to influence others, obviously, but the greatest threat she has always posed is that she is, as one political observer put it, “dangerously malleable”.

She has been more willing to stand up to Canadians than she has ever managed for the threat coming from a foreign government, threatening a constitutional crisis every time she doesn’t get her way — which is more helpful to Donald Trump than it will ever be to Canada.

It’s more than fair to wonder who’s pulling her strings now and whether they care at all about Albertans generally or our role as Canadians specifically.

Those who have her trust are more than willing to take advantage of it in pursuit of their own ideological beliefs. They aren’t the ones facing Albertans, or being held accountable by Albertans. Their cover, and shield, is Danielle Smith herself.

Therefore, when audio was released of Danielle Smith saying she had spoken to officials from the Trump Administration and asked them to “pause” their economic attacks on Canada because it “seems to be benefitting the Liberals”, and that it would be better for the Trump Administration to have Pierre Poilievre as Prime Minister because “the perspective that Pierre would being would be very much in sync with, I think… the new direction in America,” it was an admission of soliciting foreign interference in Canada’s election.

Worse, people close to Pierre Poilievre’s campaign war room have said they wondered if they could get a message to the White House to get them to “put some distance” between themselves and Pierre Poilievre.

Something that did happen recently, in contradiction of Mr. Trump’s previous statements on the topic.

Mr. Trump is not a savvy individual, even if he played one once on a television show.

His statement, that “a liberal is probably easier to deal with” was littered with multiple declarations of “I don’t care” which seems like the only thing that was true. He doesn’t care who wins the election. He’s going to continue to put economic pressure on Canada because he sees it as a way to get what he wants; annexation.

Danielle Smith is going out of her way to try and get MAGA and Republicans to care more about another country than their own — something that directly contradicts their goal of making their own country “great” again.

The only thing she’s doing down there is raising her own profile, and taking advantage of future opportunities for herself. It’s just the same old Danielle Smith.

I believe that we should not have to worry that our premier could stab our nation in the back again.

I am Canadian first, and I am also a resident of Alberta.

I am also a resident in the riding adjacent to Brooks-Medicine Hat if any constituents would like to organize a recall petition and are looking for volunteers.

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