Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney is questioning why the province is taking oil and gas off the table in the high-stakes tariffs war with the United States.
Kenney, in an interview Tuesday, said Canada has the power to really put the squeeze on the U.S. through oil and gas exports.
“You don’t deal with an aggressive attack on your economy by starting with listing all the things you will not do in reprisal by limiting your options, by weakening your position.
“That makes no sense.”
He said cutting off exports isn’t feasible, partly because central Canada relies on oil shipped through the U.S.
But he said the Americans would be extremely sensitive to export taxes on things like fuel and potash amid a cost-of-living crisis.
“(That) would affect Republicans who drive F-150s and lay fertilizer on their farm fields,” he said.
“They should be mindful that if they really want to escalate, it will not end well for the American economy two months before mid-term elections.”
The mid-term election on Nov. 3 will see votes for all 435 U.S. Congress seats and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate.
If Democrats regain control of either chamber, they will be empowered to block U.S. President Donald Trump’s agenda and launch investigations into his administration for the final two years of his term.
Kenney said he’s only suggesting export taxes be levied if the administration intensifies its threats — but the possibility ought to be signaled.
“Let it be known we’re prepared to defend ourselves.”
His comments come as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has announced a string of counter-tariffs to battle punishing U.S. import fees on about $28 billion worth of Canadian goods.
Premier Danielle Smith has long asserted that oil and gas will not be part of the fight.
She has said cutting off energy exports would end up hurting Canadians and deprive Canada of money it could use to buttress other sectors that will feel the brunt of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
In a statement Tuesday, she said counter-tariffs increase costs, and hurt businesses and workers.
Get breaking National news
“We should do all we can to avoid further escalation,” she said.
She’s urging the federal government to get back to the negotiating table with the U.S.
Other premiers have said now is the time to fight Trump with every economic tool at their disposal.
Earlier this week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford pointed to areas in which Canada can inflict pain south of the border, including through its oil, potash and uranium exports.
He said he’s willing to cut off Ontario’s electricity and critical mineral supplies to the U.S.
But he said he can’t do it alone. “I need every premier playing on team Canada.”
-
![]()
‘He can kiss my a**: Ford slams Trump over new 50 per cent tariffs -
![]()
‘I don’t respond to a dictator’: Ford unloads on Trump, calls him the ‘King of Bankruptcy’ -
![]()
Ford, Trump trade insults as Canada-U.S. trade war escalates -
![]()
Premiers back Carney for walking away from trade negotiations -
![]()
‘President Trump is the type of person that would steal your lunch money’: Ontario Premier Ford -
![]()
Trump would cut off Canadians data centre access in ‘3 seconds’ if given the chance, Ford says
On Tuesday, Alberta Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said Smith has played into Trump’s hands.
“Her loyalties are at best divided. Every action she takes publicly strengthens the bargaining position of the United States and of Donald Trump,” Nenshi said.
Nenshi said nobody wants the province to turn off the oil taps to the U.S., but said Smith’s move to publicly dismiss the possibility was “incredibly foolish.”
The premier’s office declined to respond directly to the remarks from Kenney and Nenshi.
However, Jobs Minister Joseph Schow criticized the NDP leader in a statement on social media, saying potentially risking 140,000 jobs in the oil and gas industry is foolish.
“The families whose livelihoods depend on the jobs in this industry deserve certainty that their government has their back and is not threatening to shut them down,” Schow wrote.
Provincial statistics peg the value of Alberta’s oil exports to the U.S. in 2025 at close to $111 billion — representing much of the province’s nearly $177 billion worth of all global exports.
The province’s budget is perennially tied to oil royalties and the boom-and-bust cycles of global energy markets.
So far, Alberta’s oil and gas exports to the U.S. have dodged Trump’s tariffs.
Nenshi said Smith’s government appears to hope that Trump leaves oil and gas alone while ignoring the impacts of his threats on other industries at home and in other provinces.
He called on Smith to immediately reinstate the province’s ban on American booze.
“There’s no cost to the Canadian economy. The only cost is to Danielle Smith’s pride.”
Most Canadian provinces have long curtailed U.S. alcohol on their shelves in response to earlier tariff fights with the Trump administration.
But Saskatchewan and Alberta, despite brief booze bans, have chosen to keep American products on the shelves.
On the weekend, Smith said she won’t be shifting the province’s booze policy and will leave it up to consumers. “We believe also in choice,” she said.
“We trust that Albertans can make their own decisions, so we won’t be going down that track.”
— With files from Lisa Johnson and Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press and Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press
Heat her methead, you speak for few Albertans
I have a suspicion that Covid was just the start, and that many more people on both sides will experience foreclosures and repossessions if this trade war is allowed to continue. Trump isn’t going to back down, and he and the Liberals are going to financially destroy every man and woman so they own nothing. Trump was a developer and Carney was a souless central banker – these guys live and breathe foreclosures.
Put a sock in it Nenshi. Go back to the sand box. You’re the same party that accused Smith that the Provincial debt would not exist if her party hadn’t spent the oil windfall on themselves. I guess you haven’t heard the expression “don’t count the chickens before they’ve hatched” nor Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. That revenue does not exist yet. We do not necessitously gamble in oil futures. Future income is not guaranteed income. And reinstating Alberta’s alcohol ban? Smith has it exactly right. Let Albertans decide for themselves.
Smith is 100% right! Thank god she’s ours. And double thanks Nenshi isn’t running things.
I don’t see other provinces putting their financial health at risk. Smith is a Premier, and she is only responsible for Alberta. Not BC or Ontario. Not Canada.
On the booze, we are all grown ups here, and we can decide for ourselves what we want to buy. We don’t need a nanny state making our decisions for us. At least I don’t, anyway.
And Kenny can f right off. We made a mistake with him. Hopefully we learned from it.
Yes…..Oil, potash, lumber, critical minerals all need to be on the table! Hit the f’n MAGAtards where it hurts. And, when the US Midwest completely dries up, they will need Canadian water. F the whole lot of the MAGA morons!
Thank God the NDP are not ruling in Alberta. That and Kenney is an idiot…
Retards
Thanks Jason. It’s your naptime now.
Alberta’s oil exports to the U.S. in 2025 at close to $111 billion — representing much of the province’s nearly $177 billion worth of all global exports.
Like I’ve said, nothing but oil and a trump butt sucker.
Just a bad idea as other countries will think we are an unreliable supplier.
Everyone blames Trump dont forget who put us here we could already be way a head of the game if it wasn’t for liberal policies the same government for the last 11.5 years. It isn’t working plain and simple just like there voting base
Smith and her followers are more MAGA than Canadian. Traitors!
He is absolutely correct!! Smith needs to grow a backbone!
Just enjoy your taxpayer pension and stay retired. Must be bored and wants to keep his name out there or something.
Yes let’s put a tariff on oil so our gas prices increase more. Yay I am all for paying more taxes so those pensions can get larger.
Our politicians are so lost and making it harder and harder to vote for any party.
We seem to have lost our Canadian way over the past couple of decades due to weak leadership by federal, provincial and even municipal governments.
Do I have any answers no but we need to have some trust in these elected officials and ones that can say no or yes without all the political grandstanding that we currently have.
Look at our current leader in Alberta that scurried across the floor from the Wildrose and lost the election for the Conservatives. Then comes back like a saviour and people in the UCP party fell for it to vote for her as the leader. Lucky for her that the NDP did not have a leader and still doesn’t and may never will again.
We need new or better alternatives as our political systems are broken for all levels.
Still think Canada is one of the best countries on the planet just really lost in our political state and the division we have in Canada.
Oil and all other mineral and energy resources definitely need to be on the table. We could shut down huge swathes of the Northeastern US if we wanted too – those that rely on Canada for electricity. Trump and his flunkies have no idea how important, and how powerful, Canada really is.
Alberta won’t separate. They’d be stupid to do so. If they did separate, they can’t take the oil or any other resources. Those belong to the CROWN. They can’t take the land itself, because it is also CROWN land. They will have to create their own currency, laws, etc. There are so many ins-and-outs they haven’t thought through.
Western “alienation” aside, very few Albertans actually support these fringe traitors, especially the more it’s revealed that they’re pro-MAGA stooges for Trump.
trying to land a tax on Alberta will pretty much drive Alberta out of Canada.
The Reciprocating Tariffs is more about placing a tax on Canadians then trying to punish Prez Pompus.
Look at how many versions of the Liberal party we have had that has ‘drooled’ over control of the petroleum industry.
agree 100%, smith is soft
Kenny continues to follow his red tory values and still wants to put Alberta under the bus.
Be gone Jason, we tossed you out of Alberta once, do not want to again.