Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is firing back against a poll that suggests the majority of Canadians support putting retaliatory tariffs on imported energy products.
The survey, conducted by Nanos Research for CTV News and The Globe and Mail, found more than two-thirds of people in the Prairies support putting tariffs on oil, natural gas and electricity.
“Well, I think it’s a garbage poll,” Smith said at an unrelated press conference on Tuesday.
“What if we were to ask Albertans or Canadians this: ‘Would you support export tariffs if it meant the U.S. would retaliate by shutting off Line 5 and leaving Ontario and Quebec without gasoline or aviation fuel at all?’ I think you’d get a different answer.”
The survey was conducted March 28-30 and included 1,264 random Canadian adults across the country by phone. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Of the 277 people from the Prairies polled, 58.8 per cent said they support imposing tariffs on the export of oil, natural gas and electricity to the United States as a form of retaliation against U.S.-imposed tariffs on the same resources.
“I’m not surprised that the resistance to tariffs would be higher in the Prairies,” Nik Nanos, chief data scientist at Nanos Research, said Tuesday.
“But the thing is, the cold, hard facts are that if we do not even discuss potential tariffs on oil and gas, we’ve got no leverage at the table; we’ll just get steamrolled by the Americans.”
Another 8.8 per cent said they somewhat support, while 0.9 per cent somewhat oppose, 23.5 per cent oppose the imposition of tariffs and 8.0 per cent were unsure.
Nationally, support for tariffs on the energy products was higher, with 68.1 per cent in support, 9.2 per cent somewhat in support, 2.2 per cent somewhat opposing, 15.4 per cent opposing and 5.0 per cent unsure.
“I think the reality is that there are few levers that Canada has with the United States. We have to be very careful in what we do. One of the biggest levers that we have is our energy resources because we are an energy superpower,” Nanos said.
“I think what this does mean, at least, is that for the Government of Canada, this is a lever that can be used in a discussion with Donald Trump and that there’s political licence to do that.”
The premier said she doesn’t want to get into a situation where the U.S. could ramp up their retaliation further, like it did last month when Ontario Premier Doug Ford threatened to put a 25 per cent surcharge on the electricity the province sends south.
“I think people need to look at a map, see where Eastern Canada gets its oil and gas from, and realize that it’s a very, very dangerous game to be talking about tariffing energy and to talk about turning the taps off,” Smith said.
“I think we saw that when it was attempted with electricity; the result was immediate. The Americans came forward with a 50 per cent tariff on steel and aluminum and it had to be walked back, so I don’t even want to play with that fire on cross-border trade worth $150 billion.”
Nanos noted that the premier of Alberta plays an important role advocating for a significant chunk of Canada’s energy resources.
“On that front, I expect (Smith), and I think all Canadians, expect her to advocate for her province and to advocate for the sector. And you know what? Her pushing back and being involved in these decisions makes Canada’s position stronger, right? So, I’m not surprised,” Nanos said.
“Whenever politicians don’t like my numbers, they always say that they don’t like the poll.”
Smith also responded to the poll in a statement on Monday, saying Alberta will never agree to an export tax on oil and gas headed to the U.S.
The poll also asked Canadians if they would be in favour of putting tariffs on potash and other critical minerals, with similar results: 68 per cent said they support it, while eight per cent somewhat support, three per cent somewhat oppose, 14 per cent oppose and six per cent were unsure.
With files from Alesia Fieldberg and CTVNews.ca
