Prime Minister Danielle Smith once again addresses the US. UU. At the end of this month to continue her diplomatic approach to fees conversations in the midst of a commercial war with the United States.
Smith will travel to southern Florida at the expense of taxpayers to talk about tariffs with the conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro. Its conversation is part of a fundraising for a non -profit organization called Prageru.
The Alberta Premier strategy contrasts with the approach of provincial leaders such as Ontario Doug Ford, whose aggressive actions include cheating an Internet service agreement of $ 100 million with the ELON Musk stars line and threaten to tax electricity exports to the US.
Since the president of the United States, Donald Trump, was elected in November, Smith has emphasized diplomacy as a key political strategy. He visited Trump in Mar-A-Lago in mid-January, the first prime minister to do so after threatening tariffs on Canadian goods.
This week, Smith is in Houston for the Global Ceraweek Conference for S&P, which has been described as the Super Bowl of Energy. According to conservative media Breitbart News Network, Smith spoke with his head of the Washington office on the radio on Saturday about trade, tariffs and Canada’s response.
Although Smith has recently supported Canada’s response, his efforts have been criticized in the past as breaching the “Canada team” approach.
Why go to this route?
The two types of strategy, Smith’s diplomacy versus the direct actions of Ford, both have merits, said Greg Anderson, professor of political science at Alberta University.
And both have caught the attention of Americans.
While many Canadians applaud Doug Ford’s response to the current commercial war with the United States, others care about the viability and economic ramifications of contrary rates. Metro Morning spoke with an economist who says that Prime Minister’s approach “Tit for Tat” will not work, and Canada should be thinking of a “plan B”.
Smith has managed to appear in the media, such as Breitbart and Fox News, which Republicans, including Trump, are observing. Anderson said the strategy is something that has been part of Alberta’s play book for decades to promote the importance of the energy sector.
In addition to that, Smith has also made a point to make regular trips to the United States, Anderson said in an interview on Tuesday.
“Sometimes these things pay dividends, only in terms of ‘Hello, people are aware of what is happening here and what people are trying to do.”
Where does Smith go?
The event of South Florida is a collection of gala funds for Prager University Foundation (Prageru), which, despite its name, is not an accredited university and has no classes or subsidy titles.
The non -profit organization of the United States is described on its website how to promote “US values through short educational videos for people of all ages.”
“Young Americans are being fed with poisonous lies about the world’s largest country by our media, culture and especially our educational establishment,” says his annual report of 2024. “Prageru is medicine for the mind, educating young people with the truth about the incomparable freedom of the United States, endless opportunities and moral goodness.”
His work has expanded to include short books, plans for lessons and work sheets.
Smith and Shapiro are the speakers highlighted in the East Coast Gala of Prageru on March 27. Individual tickets for the event cost $ 1,500 us.
Shapiro describes himself as a conservative political commentator with 14.9 million followers combined on YouTube and X. Their views are seen as controversial and some experts say that their content is used by extremist groups and extreme right.
Sam Blacktt, Smith press secretary, said the travel and housing costs of the prime minister are being covered by the government.
“A key part of the defense of the United States of the Prime Minister is to advance in the message of Alberta and Canada with the American people,” Blacktt said in a statement sent by email.
“Since Ben Shapiro has millions of followers on social networks, strong connections within the administration of President Donald Trump, and believes that the United States should reduce tariffs on Canada … This event provides the opportunity for the prime minister to share and advocate for the interests of Alberta and Canada to millions of Americans and other key administered allies.”
Naheed Neshi, leader of Alberta’s new Democrats, asked Smith to cancel the event, citing extremist opinions of Shapiro and the optics of participating in a fund collection event for a conservative platform.
“This American speech tour will not reduce Trump’s tariffs, but will send a signal to Albertaos that Danielle Smith is focused on its extremist base, not on them,” Nenshi said in a statement.
Will the strategy work?
Anderson said Smith simply meets Americans where they are.
“Say what you like about Prager or Ben Shapiro … Any of these figures,” he said. “But if you are trying to reach those in power in the United States these days, that is who you need to speak with, because people are listening.”
Anderson acknowledged that some Albertans will not agree with Smith’s decision to participate.
He said that Smith’s options are to reject such points of sale and not transmit their message, or she can involve them with caution.
Look | Prageru Kids publishes videos with problematic content:
Amarnath Amarasingam, associate professor at Queen University, agrees that Smith should address the event carefully.
The use of alternative media Trump has influenced other politicians to use podcasts and other online spaces to spread policies and messages, said Amaasingam, an extremism expert, conspiracy theories, online communities and more.
“She can speak directly with a politically conservative audience of less than 35 without any real -time or real -time recoil facts. So that is a very comfortable space to be,” he said.
Amaasingam said that I could look for conservative spaces more of good reputation, but added: “I think he is prioritizing the audience and virality and online dissemination on the type of factor that would come with being associated with a group like this.”
But Smith’s planned appearance in fundraising makes little sense for Kevin Kruse, history professor at Princeton University.
He said the place could compromise his goal of speaking directly about tariffs.
“If she wants to go back to that in front of that audience, of course, it would be something valuable,” he said.
“But, in general, what I have seen with people who perform those shows is that they largely nod and smile and agree with their interrogators and do not really go back. So if that is the case, if she is only there for Curry, I think it is a great mistake and a lost opportunity.”
