It was supposed to be a cakewalk. Instead, as Pierre Poilievre kicks off the election campaign that was supposed to be a mere formality, his odds of becoming Canada’s next prime minister get longer with each passing day. And now, for some reason, his closest provincial ally just gave Mark Carney’s Liberals a gift-wrapped political sledgehammer to celebrate the launch of the election.
In a resurfaced early March interview with Breitbart, an online far-right American publication with longstanding ties to the Trump universe, Premier Danielle Smith said the quiet part about Poilievre out loud — the part Poilievre’s team has spent weeks trying to bury. “The perspective that Pierre would bring would be very much in sync with, I think … the new direction in America. And I think we’d have a really great relationship for the period of time they’re both in.”
Worse, perhaps, she suggested that the Trump administration should stand down temporarily on tariffs specifically to help Poilievre win. “What I fear,” Smith said, “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.”
If you were looking for an example of foreign interference in our elections, this is about as bad as it gets. Worse, Smith might not be alone in soliciting it. As journalist Stephen Maher noted in a recent Toronto Star column, “two unrelated sources close to the CPC war room tell me that Poilievre’s team had even floated going so far as trying to get a message to the White House in an attempt to persuade Trump to distance himself from Poilievre.” In what is surely a total coincidence, Trump ended up doing exactly that.
In any sane and rational universe, Smith’s transparent treachery would be the end of her political career. She is openly collaborating with an administration that is trying to bring Canada to heel, whether through economic or military means, and has repeatedly threatened its sovereignty. Even in Alberta, where there is more support for joining the United States than elsewhere in Canada, this is still a wildly unpopular position. If the Alberta NDP is ever going to wake up from its self-induced political slumber, now would be a good time.
But even if Smith’s remarks don’t end her political career, they’ve already done tremendous damage to Poilievre’s. That’s because his hopes of winning the election it looked like he couldn’t lose now rest on his ability to create some distance between himself and President Donald Trump. That was already going to be a difficult assignment given the numerous ties between his key staff and MPs and the MAGA universe, not to mention his own Trump-like characteristics: pugilistic, loose with the facts, scornful of opposition and openly contemptuous of the media. Mix in the Conservative base’s disproportionate fondness for Trump, even in the face of his numerous threats to Canada’s sovereignty, and Poilievre was going to have to walk the narrowest of tightropes.
Now, it’s basically impossible. When given the chance to disavow Smith’s comments, Poilievre declined to call her out. “Trump has been very blunt that he wants a weak Canada that he can target,” he said, when asked about the remarks in the first hour of the election. “Electing Liberals will weaken our country still.” This isn’t going to cut it with most Canadians, especially once Smith’s comments get a wider airing with the general public. If he can’t even bear to criticize one of his biggest friends and political allies, how on earth is Poilievre going to stand up to Donald Trump?
That’s the question that Liberals will be putting to Canadians over the next five weeks. And while Conservative partisans will twist themselves into pretzels to justify Poilievre’s ideological and political alignment with Trump, most Canadians will be far less forgiving. “I'm not Liberal or Conservative,” Ottawa writer Dan Gardner said on social media. “I'm Canadian. My vote depends on who I think will best defend Canada. And if I detect the slightest whiff of Trump-inclination, Trump-curiosity, or Trump-envy in either party, I will invite that party to cross the border and don't come back.”
He’s probably not alone. Time will tell whether Trump is still the dominant ballot question in a month, and whether Canadians have changed their minds on who’s best equipped to handle him. But one thing is certain: Danielle Smith has already done more to hurt Poilievre’s chances than the Liberals ever could.
Comments
Poilievre's MAGA-lite tendencies will prove his undoing.
Aside from his association with right-wing extremists, anti-vaxxers, Freedumb-Convoy types, and seditionist Trumpo-troglodytes, Poilievre is supremely unqualified for the nation's top office — not to mention undignified.
Mere weeks ago, the keys to the PMO seemed within Poilievre's grasp.
Now he can only froth and foam as Carney swoops in to snatch the prize.
Defeat spells the end to Poilievre's career. No second chances.
Couldn't happen to a more deserving guy.
Bells will ring out across the land — skipping most of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Expect volcanic eruptions from Danielle Smith. Let her smolder.
Curses from Calgary's executive suites. Even though the Liberals have given Big Oil CEOs just about everything on their wish list. Record profits on record production — and the fossil-fuel lobby is still scheming to take down the Liberals and oppose every climate policy.
Best of all, we'll still be able to tune in to the racket on CBC.
Well put Mr. Pounder. And thanks, Stormy Danielle, but exactly how dumb are you to actually admit this on Breitbart?
The mind boggles.
It really is incredible that she did not know the lines which she should not cross. Actually scary for every Canadian to think their elected official could be this ignorant. Sheila Copps is on 'X' suggesting someone in Ford's group contacted his old school buddy 'Vance' to get the Donald to support Carney so he 'won't' win. The games of this election are coming from the top of the U.S. government. Seeing Trump show his support for Carney and not pp was so comical but at the same time frightening that a man with that job would play games at such a low level. 77 million voted for him? There are no words.
Now we also know that Musk supported pp more than once and we know who and what his profession is and in my opinion he is the one to be watched during our election. Hopefully there will be the 'manual' placing of our 'x' on the ballot and not any technology because that's Musk's specialty isn't it.
Paper ballots....old tech protects democracy!
Thank you for brightening my morning so poetically!
It would be fantastic to see a few urban seats in Alberta and Sask turn Liberal. One or two powerful cabinet posts should be reserved for capable Albertans. Diamonds in the rough.
If/when Carney Liberals win a strong majority there should be pushback against Danielle Smith's threats of inflaming " western" (read: Alberta) separatism. A simple challenge to hold a referendum on Alberta separation should do the trick.
Prepare for an onslought of propaganda, BS and online hate, which is pretty typical these days. Fight it head on. Demand a simple question that puts Albertan's Canadian citizenship on the line. Define the consequences of a Yes or No vote. Have a federal plan for both, including removing all federal lands and assets and social programs from the equation. The feds and anti-separatism Albertans must sieze control over the narrative.
Faced with actual separation and having the consequences spelled out will ensure 90% of the vote will be for No/Stay, which is pretty well where the latest polls are.
Smith has no legitimate case for separation and her separatist threats are unsupported by the vast majority of Albertans. So she must have that issue removed once and for all from her cache if weapons used against anything federalist or transitional regarding energy.
Agree with Max, it's time for the Alberta NDP to come out of hibernation and start attacking Danielle Smith's treachery.
The reason Nenshi is nowhere to be seen is because the media doesn't cover him. If the 'media' wanted Nenshi in his face and opinions would be everywhere but as we all know main stream media has their own agenda, especially the PostMedia Hedge Funders.
I have to say though even the Toronto Star editorial today is talking about Smith's undermining of Team Canada. So that's something I guess.
It is unimaginable that we have a party, reformed Cons, that wish to side with the U.S. Where is their loyalty to Canada? Weren't they educated in this country? Why would they ever want anything than our own country? Shocking revelations for true Canadians and our history. Very sad and disappointing. We now know for sure where that Convoy bunch came from and who funded them and we also know who the Canada Proud group is. Canada Proud, yeah sure.
https://pressprogress.ca/canada-proud-launches-attack-ads-linking-mark-…
"Pause" is the key word.
Smith asked "administration officials" to "put things on pause".
Putting tariffs on pause implies the U.S. should feel free to resume tariffs resume afterwards.
Smith does not object to the tariffs per se. The tariffs' effect upon Canada is not her main concern. Her prime beef is that U.S. tariffs — and Trump's explosive volatility more generally — have given the Liberals a big boost in the polls, which spells a likely edge in the election.
Smith underlines the fact that U.S. policy is a key issue in — and will have an outcome on — Canada's election.
Smith asked administration officials to change course: alter the policy to favor her preferred candidate. The U.S. should feel free to resume tariffs and economic warfare against Canada after her preferred candidate has won. Her explicit goal is to manipulate a foreign government to change the outcome of Canada's election. If that is not foreign interference, what is?
U.S. tariffs and economic warfare is not THE problem. The problem is that U.S. tariff policy is giving her political opponents a leg up at the expense of her preferred candidate.
And, oh, by the way, her preferred candidate sees the world and practices the politics of division much the way Trump does. On any number of issues, Trump and Poilievre see eye to eye. The two should get along famously, tariffs or no tariffs.
Even if you do not buy charges of electoral interference and treachery, that admission alone should sink Poilievre.
One Trump is too many. We don't need two.
"‘Let’s just put things on pause': Alberta premier under fire for Breitbart interview" (CTV, March 23, 2025)
"'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 said. '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 5 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. And I think we’d have a really great relationship for the period of time they’re both in (office).'"
Lisa Young: "What Smith said, and why it matters" (Mar 23, 2025)
"Poilievre’s greatest weakness going into the federal election is the concern from middle-of-the-road voters that he won’t be tough on Trump, or that he’s 'maple MAGA.' And here, Danielle Smith has validated this perception."
https://lisayoung.substack.com/p/what-smith-said-and-why-it-matters/
I'm so looking forward to getting my voter info card in the mail!
I'm trying to coin a word:
MAGAjacent
Use it in your daily life, to describe most of our Conservatives. And the new name for our Convoy is the "MAGA Convoy", with every Con who so much as smiled at them, now "MAGAjacent".
I like MAGAjacent to describe many (hopefully not most) Canadians Cons. (Geez, they give conservation a bad name, eh?) But I still prefer to use Hostage Convoy, since that is literally what it was and what it did.
I recall a simpler time when Canadian officials, especially provincial or Senate, did not give interviews to foreign "news" agencies (ostensibly not to undermine unity in Canada) until conservatives made it popular to slag Canada and Liberals on FOX. The belated irony here is through the roof.
We could have foretold all this just by listening (blech) to Tucker Carlson's fairly recent rants about Canadians being stuck in a dictatorship (I hadn't thought of Tuck as a comedian until then ;-). Given how little most Americans know about Canada, there's no way he wasn't fed that line by the Canadian Cons.
And oh, the irony, eh, PP? To be on the way to becoming prime minister (not because of what Trudeau did or didn't do but because of your Trumpesque lies and constant slagging of our PM), then to have the election of "your guy" in the US totally dash your hopes? Gotta love it.
Another bit of comedy came quite recently from T****'s dissing of PP. It was so half-hearted, it was clearly fake — and comical. Ha ha, T**** made a funny! (Since that man has zero sense of humour, it was definitely only a joke by accident.)
I wonder what other treasonous things she's said in private to Trump. I have no doubt that PP would sell us out when things get tough. He would spin it as a good thing, lower taxes, more oil, less regulation. We wouldn't have a country or a say in our future with that clown in office.
I hope there are political retributions for Smith, however i have no faith in Albertans to do it.
Now she’s off to hang with such high grade political influencers as Shapiro. Barf. Conservative Albertans largely resent this misuse of their tax dollars, and rightfully see it as Smith running from her latest scandal, Alberta Health Services bungling. The prevalence of criticism in the Calgary Herald’s comment section shows her rapid decline in support. The natives are indeed restless.
Rumours are now circulating that Carney may invite former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole to join his cabinet. Remember that EO was a climate fighting pragmatic moderate who got the boot when MAGA Lites pulled a coup and installed Poilievre.
Carney is actually proving he is a political pro, and that would be a pro move. Progressive centrists along with Libs...kinda like a war cabinet coalition working together to unite the country to fight Trump.
Another rumour has former BC premier Christy Clark being invited to run and become part of Carney's cabinet. I am happy to see the invitation was unsuccessful after NDP strategic voters threatened to work against her in the thousands and swing their vote back to the NDP en masse federally from voting Liberal. The Clark proponents also got an earful about being ignorant of BC politics and the taint of corruption that followed Clark's single term.
I'm glad common sense prevailed.
Most recently, some of Poilievre's campaign workers confided a few days ago to Quebec journalist Chantal Hebert that they plan to secretely vote for Carney. Now, what does that tell us?