Alberta Fact Check: Did Doug Ford's tough talk actually help Canada?
Ontario's premier says he was "standing alone protecting Canada" and wants Alberta to be more vocal. But the evidence suggests Alberta's less confrontational approach may have protected its economy—and avoided giving the Trump administration another justification for tariffs.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he wishes Alberta, the other premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney had been "a little more vocal" in responding to U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff threats.
"We need a Team Canada approach led by the prime minister," Ford said. "I feel some days that I'm standing alone protecting Canada and I need everyone else to get onside."
Ford argues Canada would have been better served if every province had adopted Ontario's more confrontational approach to the Trump administration.
Alberta deliberately chose a different path.
The media is responsible for much of the insane behavior & thinking from the Left.
— Ryan Gerritsen🇨🇦🇳🇱 (@ryangerritsen) July 23, 2026
Just listen to this - Danielle Smith isn’t willing to cut off oil & gas to the U.S.? Which is in her own self interest? Ok because the rest of Canada doesn’t benefit from it either?
Let’s commit… pic.twitter.com/NJ3dTcQxeI
While Ford championed retaliation—including removing American alcohol from Ontario's LCBO shelves and threatening to cut off electricity exports to the United States—Premier Danielle Smith repeatedly argued that Alberta's oil and natural gas should never be used as bargaining chips in a political dispute.
Smith warned that retaliatory measures should not come at the expense of Alberta workers and businesses whose livelihoods depend on trade with the United States.
That distinction mattered.
The United States is by far Alberta's largest export market, purchasing the overwhelming majority of the province's oil and natural gas exports. Escalating the dispute risked harming Alberta's own economy while doing little to influence American policy.
Alberta also reversed one of the most visible retaliatory measures adopted elsewhere in Canada. While Ontario and several other provinces continued to keep U.S. liquor off government store shelves, Alberta restored American alcohol products to retailers.
That decision later proved significant.
When President Trump announced additional tariffs on Canadian goods, the White House specifically cited provincial bans on U.S. alcoholic beverages as an example of discrimination against American commerce. The proclamation also noted that Alberta and Saskatchewan had already lifted those restrictions, distinguishing them from provinces that maintained the bans.
In other words, one of Ontario's signature retaliatory measures became part of the Trump administration's public justification for escalating the trade dispute.
Doug Ford says Alberta should have been more vocal. But the evidence suggests Alberta's strategy of avoiding escalation may have been the wiser course. Rather than expanding a trade war with Canada's largest customer, Alberta restored American liquor products to store shelves, refused to use energy exports as a political weapon, and avoided contributing to one of the very trade irritants later cited by the Trump administration.
Being louder may generate headlines. It doesn't necessarily produce better trade outcomes.
Sheila Gunn Reid
Chief Reporter
Sheila Gunn Reid is the Editor-in-Chief, Alberta Bureau Chief, member of the board of directors, and host of The Gunn Show at Rebel News. Sheila also serves as President of the Independent Press Gallery of Canada. A mother of three and longtime conservative activist, Sheila is the author of bestselling books, including her most recent release, Independence Blueprint: What Alberta Can Learn From Quebec.
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