Rick Bell: Danielle Smith furious with Doug Ford, Team Canada set to meet

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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has had it with Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

Smith is said to be incredibly unimpressed with him.

She does not like Ford playing a game of who has got the biggest muscles with the Americans.

Smith’s approach is not to push U.S. President Donald Trump to the brink as Ford did on Tuesday.

Smith’s approach is not to go to an all-out, no-holds-barred trade war with a superpower.

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The Alberta premier figures turning off the lights to people in the U.S. means Canada becomes the bad guys.

Canada becomes the bogeyman.

Canada will be the one blamed for the pain that will fall on the Americans in the days ahead and not Trump, where the blame belongs.

Smith is in Houston, Texas, talking to movers and shakers in Trump World and in the oil and gas business.

In discussions, there is a feeling Americans are starting to put two and two together.

The stock markets show their ugly arithmetic every business day and more and more folks south of the border are saying they do not want this trade war with Canada.

The uncertainty and the costs are slowly taking a toll.

Smith puts out a statement Tuesday afternoon.

On Wednesday, Canada’s premiers will talk to each other, the meeting chaired by Ford.

Smith says she and other premiers want a meeting of all the premiers and Mark Carney, the new prime minister, when he actually decides to become the prime minister.

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For the record, Ford is having breakfast with Carney Wednesday morning.

No surprise. Ford told the whole world Tuesday he thinks Carney is “a very bright individual” who “understands finances like no other person.”

Thanks for the endorsement, Doug!

The Alberta premier wants to discuss “the recent escalation in the trade dispute with the U.S.”

Psst … that’s you Premier Ford.

Smith wants Canada’s approach to the Trump tariffs to be “proportional and level-headed” focusing on “de-escalating this dispute on both sides of the border.”

The premier says everyone she speaks to deep in the heart of Texas “wants to de-escalate this trade dispute, work through and resolve outstanding trade irritants and get back to building a mutually beneficial trade relationship.”

At this point many Canadians will be going crazy.

Drop the gloves. Elbows up. Canada is not for sale. Show Donald Trump who is boss.

Canadians are angry. Canadians are fed up. Canadians feel insulted.

Premier Ford is speaking to those Canadians who want to see Trump get a swift kick where it hurts.

Damn the torpedoes.

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Ford was busy Tuesday.

Ford slapped a 25 per cent charge on electricity going to three large American states.

American President Donald Trump was raging at Ford.

Trump had a 25 per cent tariff charge going on Canadian steel and aluminum.

Trump said he would hike it to 50 per cent.

Trump said he would hit cars going into the U.S. with tariffs high enough to permanently close down the car plants in Canada and this country would have to pay a price so big it would make its way into the history books.

Ford did the rounds on American TV telling those south of the border he loved them but he had no choice.

There was a phone call from Trump’s people.

Trump said it would be “a very bad thing” if Ford taxed the electricity going south of the border.

In the end, Ford did not put the 25 per cent charge on Ontario electricity to the U.S.

Instead, he and Canadian officials will sit down with Trump’s people on Thursday and talk about trade.

A lot of people were disappointed, hungering for Canada kicking butt.

They wanted Ford to go after Trump — full steam ahead.

And, in the end, Trump’s original 25 per cent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum is still a go.

So here we are.

On a big question for Albertans, Smith is not backing down.

She will not support a federal government tax on oil and gas heading south. Never.

Ford talked about it Monday. Smith has heard Carney mused about it.

The premiers huddle on Wednesday, Smith and Ford will be front and centre.

What I wouldn’t give to be a fly on that wall.

rbell@postmedia.com

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