EXCLUSIVE: Alberta Premier on Energy Exports, COVID Mandates, Drug Crisis, and China Threat

It is time for Canada to stop being “naive” and see China for what it truly is—an “adversary,” says Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

“It seemed plausible that if you invest in China and help them to become more economically free and have more free enterprise, that would result in more political freedom. Well, it hasn’t turned out that way,” Ms. Smith said in an interview with the host of The Epoch Times’ American Thought Leaders Jan Jekielek.

“What we’re seeing instead is that the Chinese cheap production has hollowed out our manufacturing sector, not just in the United States but also in Canada. And when COVID hit, we saw the vulnerabilities that were a result of that.”

According to a 2018 study by the Economic Policy Institute, between 2001 and 2017 the United States lost 3.4 million jobs as a result of China’s acceptance into the World Trade Organization in 2001. Between 2001 and 2011, Canada lost 150,000–170,000 jobs due to increased Chinese imports, according to a 2017 report by the Centre for the Study of Living Standards.

Meanwhile, Canada’s recent foreign interference inquiry report has found that China has been actively interfering in this country.

“I think we now have to make sure that we understand what an adversary China is, and make sure that we’re not playing into our own demise,” Ms. Smith said in the interview.

“That’s a strong message that I think the Americans have been advancing. I think our former prime minister, Stephen Harper, understood that as well. But I think it’s become very, very clear in recent times that that is absolutely the case.”

The trading partner Canada needs to focus on is the United States, not China, Ms. Smith said.

While America is far and away Canada’s largest trading partner, taking in 78 percent of all Canadian exports in 2023 and shipping 50 percent of Canada’s imports, China is in second place, accounting for 12 percent of Canada’s total imports, while only taking in 4 percent of Canada’s exports.

“The way I want Canada to position ourselves is that America is our greatest friend and ally and neighbour—we’ve got to make that relationship our priority,” Ms. Smith said. “We have other relationships we need to have in the world, but we can’t do anything that interferes with that incredibly important relationship and North American energy security. We both need it.”

The premier identified security as an issue that requires closer scrutiny in Canada, particularly regarding Chinese interference. She pointed out that the provincial governments have been kept in the dark because under current legislation, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) briefs the federal government but Ottawa does not always share that information with other levels of government.

On May 6, the federal government introduced new legislation that in part allows CSIS to disclose sensitive information to non-federal entities when security issues are involved. The bill has to be debated by Parliament and passed into law before it is enacted.

Ms. Smith expressed frustration with the lack of information she can access under the existing legislation, pointing to an incident where a Chinese spy balloon “flew right across Alberta,” but she was only able to access unclassified information from CSIS.

“I still don’t know if there has been any foreign interference in Alberta elections, even though CSIS has publicly said that we’re probably a big target because of how we are situated in the world and our vast resource well,” she said. “These are things that we need to know if we’re going to be able to make sure our law enforcement knows what to look for.”

She said provincial politicians need to be aware of Chinese interference, “especially if anyone is trying to cultivate a relationship with them for nefarious purposes.”

Canadian and American flags fly near the Ambassador Bridge at the Canada–U.S. border crossing in Windsor, Ont., in a file photo. Rob Gurdebeke/The Canadian Press

‘Fortress North America’

Being environmentally conscious does not mean dialling back industrial production, but rather focusing on working cleaner to reduce emissions, Ms. Smith said.

Alberta and energy-rich Saskatchewan have clashed with the federal government on a number of climate policies, including the requirement to have a net-zero electricity grid by 2035, a cap on oil and gas emissions, and restrictions on plastics, among others.

Ms. Smith says she thinks emissions can be reduced while boosting production, and she said it’s important for Canada and the United States to work together to ensure energy security for the continent.

“When we say we are here, we are a friend, we believe in fortress North America, we believe that we can help with energy security, with affordability, as well as reduce emissions,” Ms. Smith said.

“We want to be the first option. We want to make sure that Americans look to us first rather than last as we start developing ways to decarbonize the production stream and find more and more uses for our product that is non-combustion. I think we can have both.”

Industry is essential not only in powering North American growth and prosperity but helping developing countries improve quality of life, the premier said, adding that clean industry is essential for food and energy security.

Providing energy to every home worldwide cannot be accomplished through wind or solar energy or battery use alone, Ms. Smith said. “We have to use every single type of fuel in order to be able to do that.”

“If we’re serious about ending global poverty, we should be talking in those terms. And we should be talking in terms of emissions reduction ... not ending industrial development.”

COVID Mandates

Ms. Smith has been vocal about pandemic restrictions, and during her 2022 United Conservative Party (UCP) leadership contest campaign promised to redress COVID-19 grievances. Her stance was not popular country-wide, but she said she adopted it to champion freedom of choice. She called the backlash against the unvaccinated “a new form of discrimination” and said that attitude persuaded her to make free choice a part of her platform.

Vaccine mandates “created a lot of social harm, a lot of social division,” she said. “We had families that were breaking up over this, we had people who weren’t able to go see their kids’ hockey games, people who weren’t able to travel, people who were fired from their jobs. And that is not the kind of society that we want.”

The premier said vaccination should be a personal choice.

“We have to be able to trust people that, in combination with their discussion with their doctors, they know what’s best for themselves,” she said.

She described the enforced lockdowns as the wrong approach, saying too many “consequences” came with the enforced isolation.

“If you shut down society, and people lose their jobs, the financial hardship associated with that, you can create problems within families and cause family breakdown,” she said. “It can create issues with kids with isolation, we’re beginning to see that with self-harm and suicide and overdose rates.”

Too many people were unable to see doctors or be referred to specialists, leaving serious problems like a heart condition or cancer undiagnosed until it was “too late to do anything about it,” she said.

People walk by a sign at a restaurant advising customers of Quebec’s COVID-19 vaccine passport in Montreal on Sept. 6, 2021. The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes

“Those are harms too,” she added. “We have to make sure that by taking an action to protect one vulnerable group of individuals, that we’re not inadvertently causing harm to the rest of society.”

After becoming leader of the UCP and premier in 2022, Ms. Smith went on to win the provincial election in 2023, securing another majority mandate in the new term.

Gender Issues

Gender ideology is another controversial topic Ms. Smith has tackled during her two years as premier.

Earlier this year, Alberta became the first and currently only province in Canada to ban puberty blockers for children under 16, and gender-altering surgery for those under 18.

In the interview, Ms. Smith cited the Cass report, an evidence-based study from the U.K. on the treatment of children experiencing gender dysmorphia, as an example of information that should be taken into account in Canada.

“There’s all kinds of reasons why a young person might be struggling, and just affirming one particular path to dealing with it, it’s not treating that whole child,” she said.

The decision to transition should not be made until adulthood, the premier said, adding that research is lacking on the long-term effects of puberty blockers or on the number of people who regret their decision to transition.

“I think that it’s this absence of data that has me very concerned,“ she said. ”We don’t want any young person making a decision that might affect their fertility prematurely. These are not decisions that can be made by 10- and 11-year-olds.”

Drugs Policy

The premier is also outspoken about so-called safe supply drugs and the effect of such programs on the communities in which they are offered.

“There’s no such thing as a safe supply of fentanyl, or heroin in any of its derivative forms, or crystal meth,” Ms. Smith said. “Those are not safe drugs.”

Instead, her province is pioneering the “Alberta model,” a recovery-oriented system of care that offers addicts treatment for up to a year if necessary as well as drug replacement therapy, and opportunities to develop job skills and personal abilities such as cooking and participating in the community. The goal, she said, is to give addicts help and support for “a new start in life.”

“We have three corrections facilities where we offer the same kind of intensive therapy,” she said. “And the kind of reaction that we’re getting is that no one’s ever invested in many of these folks that way, and they’re delighted that we were giving them another alternative.”