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Political strategist Kory Teneycke, who has been advising Ontario Premier Doug Ford through a series of high-profile trade war statements, is drawing criticism after suggesting Alberta and Saskatchewan should curb energy and potash exports to the United States as leverage in the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade dispute.

Sheila Gunn Reid and Lise Merle say Teneycke wrongly implied that Confederation gives Ottawa, or Ontario, a say over how Alberta and Saskatchewan manage their own natural resources.

Sheila pointed to the Alberta Act of 1905 and the 1930 Natural Resources Transfer Agreement, which she said clearly place control of provincial resources with Alberta and Saskatchewan, not Ottawa. She said Teneycke's claim that Alberta's oil exports are to blame for a broader trade imbalance with Washington doesn't hold up, since it ignores who benefits most from those sales.

Lise noted that Alberta already funds a large share of federal equalization payments thanks to its energy sector, while other provinces, including Ontario, have seen job losses. She argued that asking the West to sacrifice its own economy to shield Ontario's auto sector amounts to asking Albertans and Saskatchewanians to absorb the cost of a fight they didn't start.

Sheila and Lise also warned this kind of rhetoric, aimed at premiers Danielle Smith and Scott Moe, only strengthens the case made by Alberta independence advocates, who point to moments like this as proof the West's interests are treated as expendable in national trade strategy.