The Canadian scandal tied to one of Trump’s closest political allies

 

Not her best move

In March 2025, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was at the center of controversy following her March 8th interview with Breitbart, where she appeared to suggest that former U.S. President Donald Trump should be involved in the upcoming Canadian elections. This comment sparked widespread criticism.

An interview with Breitbart that went awry

While the interview occurred before Mark Carney was elected as the new Liberal Party and Canadian Prime Minister on March 9th, and long before Carney called an election on March 23rd, Smith’s comments were still very concerning for her country. 

The political situation in Canada

Political analysts and experts had assumed that whichever leadership candidate won the Liberal leadership race would call a snap election to earn the mandate required to deal with the trade and tariff threats being levied against Canada by Donald Trump and his administration. 

Trump’s tariff threats

Trump had threatened to levy a 25% tariff on all Canadian exports to the United States as a way of forcing Canada to deal with drugs and illegal immigrants, he claimed were making their way into the United States from its northern border with Canada.

The tariffs eventually happened

Trump delayed his tariff in February but put it into place on March 4th. The months of the President’s tariff threats, alongside his questioning of Canada’s sovereignty as a, played an important role in transforming the political fortunes of the Liberal Party. 

The political fortunes of the Liberal Party

In December 2024, the public polling firm Ipsos found that the Liberal Party was about to suffer a historic defeat in any upcoming election. The Liberals were polling at 20% of the vote compared to 45% for the Conservative Party under Pierre Poilievre.

Reversing a major polling deficit

By March 18th, the Liberals had reversed their 25-point deficit and were projected to win the next federal election by a 6-point margin with 42% of the vote compared to 36% for the Conservatives. The shift in political fortunes was down to two factors. 

The two things that shifted everything

First, former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigned in early January 2025, opening the door for a successor to restart the party's politics, and second, there was the political reaction to Trump’s tariff and sovereignty threats, which have galvanized Canadian nationalism. 

A dramatic resurgence in the polls

In late January, the Liberal party had already seen a dramatic resurgence in the polls, breaking above a 30-point threshold for the first time since September 2022, according to EKOS Politics’ polling. They sat at 32% of the vote to the Conservatives' 39%. 

Trump is largely to blame

“The cavalcade of radical announcements from the freshly inaugurated Donald Trump has spurred a renewed sense of national identity, prompting Canadians to rally around their incumbent leaders in a show of solidarity,” EKOS Politics wrote in its analysis of its polling.

Smith's Breitbart interview

This brings us to Smith's March 8th comments, in which she revealed that she told the Trump administration that she wanted them to halt U.S. sanctions on Canada because they were only helping the Liberal Party and hurting the Conservative Party.

What Smith said

“Before the tariff war, I would say yes. I mean, 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’s actually caused an increase in the support for the liberals,” Smith Said.

Tariffs only help the Liberals

“And so that’s what I fear, is that the longer this dispute goes on, politicians posture, and it seems to be benefiting the Liberals right now,” Smith said, according to a quote from Breitbart. “So I would hope that we could put things on pause is what I’ve told administration officials.”

The most problematic remark

“Let’s just put things on pause so we can get through an election,” Smith added, noting Poilievre would open more opportunities for the US-Canada relationship. It was this statement that led many political observers in Canada to criticize Smith for asking what looked like US interference in Canada’s election, according to CTV News.

A damaging interview

CTV News reported that Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt called the interview “damaging,” while Bratt’s colleague, Lori Williams, told the outlet in an email it was not surprising but it was a potential problem for Pierre Poilievre. 

The issue could hurt Poilievre

“This could reinforce views about PP [Poilievre] being Trump-like,” Williams explained. Smith has pushed back against the claims that she asked the Trump administration to interfere in Canada’s election. 

What will happen next?

In the end,  the scandal over Smith’s comments did hurt Poilievre as Canada was set to head to the polls on April 28th. The Conservatives had no chance of winning, and Mark Carney became Canada's new Prime Minister.