Alberta's premier's actions reportedly led to negative consequences for the federal Conservative party, according to Mayor Nenshi.

In the thick of the aftermath of a federal election that saw a minority Liberal government take shape, Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi is harping on the fact that Premier Danielle Smith's efforts to avoid a cross-border trade war apparently backfired disastrously on the federal Conservative party.

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On Wednesday, Smith dismissed a reporter's question about whether she undermined Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's campaign, stating that the election results were solidified due to the past two weeks of federal campaigning. However, she added that she was nowhere to be found in the media during this time and displayed no interest in being on the federal ballot.

The Alberta New Democrats have long argued that Smith's U.S. speaking appearances can be considered in-kind donations to Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's election campaign. Nenshi, for his part, claimed that Smith admitted to getting "benched by Poilievre" when she acknowledged not making election headlines in the final two weeks of the campaign.

In early April, Poilievre drew a massive crowd in Edmonton alongside former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but Smith failed to make an appearance. Moreover, Smith's weeklong trip to South Korea and Japan to cultivate trade ties seemed to indicate an attempt to avoid election campaigning altogether. Nenshi argued that this ultimately led to a squandered 25-point lead, resulting in Poilievre losing his own seat.

"The damage was already done, and a lot of it can be laid at Danielle Smith's feet," Nenshi declared.

Smith attracted attention at the beginning of the federal election campaign due to her previous claims that Poilievre was in sync with U.S. President Donald Trump. She also requested that U.S. officials delay tariffs to benefit the Conservative Party. As anger against Trump became a rallying cry across the country, Smith's remarks were swiftly weaponized by Trudeau's Liberal Party, which released a scathing attack ad quoting her words.

In the Alberta legislature, Smith defended her actions, claiming that she was being unfairly criticized for attempting to prevent a tariff war with diplomacy and media appearances with right-wing influencers in the U.S. "We will not be pushed around and called traitors for merely having the courage to actually do something about our nation’s and province’s predicament," she said.

During the election, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his former campaign manager were not shy about publicly criticizing Poilievre's campaign strategy, with the latter suggesting that the party failed to adequately address the U.S. trade war. Smith insisted that she stayed out of the fray, claiming that the media constantly tried to draw her in.

While they didn't win government, the Conservatives managed to gain 24 seats in Monday's election, keeping the Liberals at bay with just two seats in Alberta – the same number they had before the election. Nenshi accused the Conservatives of failing to pick up many of the seats they had hoped to flip, including in Atlantic Canada, Toronto, and Manitoba. He also claimed that Smith was unable to take responsibility.

One of Smith's former cabinet ministers, Peter Guthrie, has also voiced criticism of the United Conservative government on the same front. In a letter published last week, he accused Smith of using the federal election as an opportunity to raise her own national profile, possibly at the expense of the Conservative Party and its leader. Colin Aitchison, Western Canada director at Enterprise Canada and a former UCP press secretary, countered the criticism, arguing that it was unlikely that Smith influenced the election one way or another.

Aitchison suggested that the collapse of left-leaning parties and the decline of the Bloc Québécois were more significant factors in the Liberal victory. He also contended that it might have taken time for the Conservative campaign to gather momentum, and many potential conservative voters might have seen Smith standing up for Alberta.

Duane Bratt, a political scientist at Mount Royal University, believes that Smith and the idea of Poilievre and Trump sharing common ground indeed played a role in the election campaign. However, he also noted that some of Smith's initiatives in the U.S. were warranted, and her sudden change in tone while attacking the Liberals in Ottawa proved problematic.

In summary, Smith's actions during the federal election appear to have both strengthened the Conservatives' outreach to Alberta's base and introduced reputational risks that Conservatives may need to address in future campaigns.

Naheed Nenshi, Alberta NDP Leader, stated that Danielle Smith's efforts to mitigate a cross-border trade war might have overestimated the war-and-conflicts aspect within politics, as her actions apparently backfired on the federal Conservative party.
The news of Smith's U.S. speaking appearances, seen as in-kind donations to Justin Trudeau's election campaign by the Alberta New Democrats, became a topic of debate in the realm of policy-and-legislation and general-news.
Nenshi also claimed that Smith admitted to being outmaneuvered by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when she acknowledged not making election headlines in the final two weeks of the campaign, which might have contributed to the party's poor performance in certain regions.
Smith's policy-and-legislation decisions such as asking U.S. officials to delay tariffs to benefit the Conservative Party, although intended to avoid a war-and-conflicts scenario, were quickly weaponized by the opposition, particularly the Liberal Party, as an election tactic.
Critics like Peter Guthrie, a former cabinet minister, have voiced concerns that Danielle Smith used the federal election as an opportunity to raise her national profile, potentially at the expense of the Conservative Party and its leader, adding another layer of politics to the election aftermath.