Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says it’s “irresponsible and selfish” for resigning Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to delay calling a federal election, and that it’s now up to Canada’s premiers to advocate for the country in U.S. trade negotiations.
Following Trudeau’s Monday morning announcement that he would step aside as prime minister and party leader after the federal Liberals select his replacement, Smith said on social media that federal Liberals are putting political interests before Canadians.
“It is one of the most irresponsible and selfish acts of a government in Canadian history,” Smith wrote of Trudeau’s decision to prorogue Parliament until March 24 while the party holds a leadership race.
At a news conference Monday afternoon in Calgary, Smith said she was “disappointed” Trudeau didn’t immediately call an election as Canada faces the spectre of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump imposing 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports when he takes office in two weeks.
Smithworries that such tariffs on Alberta’s oil and gas products would be economically devastating on both sides of the international border.
“We’ve got a lame-duck leader with no immediate plans to leave, with no resolution to who is going to be the bargaining partner,” Smith said.
A federal election would resolve that uncertainty more rapidly, she said.
Watch | Smith reacts to Trudeau’s announcement
Until then, Smith says it’s up to premiers like her to persuade Americans they need Canadian crude oil products to meet their own energy demands and continue to profit from the export of refined petroleum.
“That’s what I do when I go on the Internet, when I go on U.S. media, is I talk in terms of what’s good for Canada,” she said.
Calgary Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Deborah Yedlin said Canada needs stable and unified leadership as soon as possible to prevent economic harm.
“This is absolutely a crucial moment for Canada,” she said in an interview. “We have a change in government in two weeks south of the border. We have a very serious economic threat to Canada as a result of that change in government, which is something that we need a strong voice and a strong government to respond to.”
Yedlin says the premiers must put “country first, party second” and present a unified front as they negotiate with the incoming Trump administration in the U.S.
Speaking on CBC’s Alberta At Noon, Calgary Skyview Liberal MP George Chahal defended the party’s plans to hold a leadership race.
“This is a way for our party to show that we are changing and that we are going to bring forward new ideas as our nation can continue to be the greatest country in the world,” Chahal said.
Proroguing Parliament prevents opposition parties from immediately toppling the Liberal minority government by introducing a motion of non-confidence.
Any federal legislation that has not received royal assent now ceases to exist.
Trump’s inauguration as the 49th president of the United States is scheduled for Jan. 20.
