“Canada has to start working for Alberta and it’s not right now.” – Premier Danielle Smith, CTV News, April 1, 2025
She is absolutely right.
US President Donald Trump has claimed that Canada was not viable as a country, and should become a “cherished 51st state.” To achieve his goal, he is attempting to force annexation by economic sanctions including a variety of tariffs.
Trump should recall that tariffs in 2018 in the first year created only a few new jobs in the steel industry but caused major job losses in manufacturing. Also, the Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930 imposed severe tariffs which were reciprocated and exacerbated the Great Depression.
For years, Alberta has been forced to sell its oil and gas to the US at a discount. Canada needs much greater energy security with access to European markets.
Energy East was to be a 4,600 km long pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta to Saint John, New Brunswick. It would have conveyed 1.1 million barrels of oil per day. Originally proposed by Frank McKenna in 2011, it was favoured by Quebec premiers initially. Premier Francois Legault in 2016 indicated that he would support the pipeline if the province received royalties. Yet in 2018, he and other Quebec politicians and all Federal Liberals opposed this. Of note is a recent SOM poll for La Presse that found that 61% of Quebecers favoured Energy East. Quebec Environmental Minister Benoit Charette showed that government opposition was lessening: “Distribution is allowed in Quebec, so energy corridors are completely permissible.”
Even Premier Francois Legault admitted that opinions in Quebec were shifting.
Pierre Poilievre proposed a “national energy corridor” to expedite approval of pipelines, electrical transmission lines, etc. He would also repeal the unconstitutional Bill C-69.
Sadly, Mark Carney has indicated that he will NOT repeal Bill C-69. If the Liberals win the current election, even though the Quebec population and politicians (except for the Bloc Quebecois) are increasingly supporting the concept, how likely is it that pipelines to New Brunswick will ever be built?
Trump claims that he needs nothing from Canada. Yet 25 per cent of US steel and 80 per cent of aluminum are imported, and we supply 23 per cent of US steel and 60 per cent of aluminum imports. Most of U.S. potash comes from Canada. We are also a source of many critical minerals.
Very soon, Americans will see sharply higher prices for groceries, automobiles, gasoline, natural gas, electricity, and building materials. There will be an increasing need to replace houses, schools, office buildings, shopping centres, etc. as well as automobiles – all lost due to fires, floods, landslides, tornadoes, and hurricanes. For many years, the US will still need our lumber, steel, aluminum and other resources.
Even those not immediately affected by such natural disasters will see a sharp rise in homeowners and auto insurance premiums with additional exclusions and deductions.
Americans in “red states” did not vote for this. They supported Republicans with the expectation that prices would soon drop. Similarly, Canadians may also experience “buyer’s remorse” if they choose Mark Carney and give the Liberals a 4th term. They should not be distracted by a leader with a resume that includes Harvard, Oxford, and the Bank of Canada and England. After all, most of his fellow cabinet members and his policies remain unchanged from a decade of failed expectations for the development and marketing of Canada’s vast underground resources.
Pierre Poilievre can and will demand that President Donald Trump show respect to his Northern neighbour, Trump totally underestimates the resolve of all Canadians to utilize its abundant resources, market them outside the US, and remain free and independent both politically and economically.
Ottawa physician Dr. Charles S. Shaver was born in Montreal. He is the Former Chair of the Section on General Internal Medicine of the Ontario Medical Association.
