Andy, I think the point you miss here is I don't think most people are saying we should use oil as a trade barrier in a way that would screw us badly, (or Alberta, if that's your only concern) but that that should not be loudly taken off the table, while throwing the rest of the country under the bus. Trump is a moron, and you have to negotiate from strength with him. It's all he knows. Strength is using the threat of our most powerful chip. We never have to commit to anything in this period. But to hobble ourselves like this doesn't make any sense, unless you are really playing another game(and Smith really only knows one game).
It comes down to, do you know of any expert negotiators whose first step is to tell their opponent the thing they need most isn't going to be used in the negotiation? Nobody does that. Because it's dumb. This is the issue. In private Smith could have told the other premiers whatever she wanted, but publicly she did the entire country a disservice(including Alberta) by behaving how she has. There are no wins to be found in her strategy.
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