Danielle Smith's fight against Trump tariffs takes her to conservative education group's donor gala

Jason Markusoff · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 27, 2025 6:19 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

In a fiery legislature code this week, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the Mark Carney Liberals "want this woman and Alberta to conscionable beryllium down and unopen up."

Smith was referring to her efforts to scope retired and alteration the minds of Trump-friendly conservatives astatine a clip erstwhile Canada is threatened by a U.S. commercialized war.

The caller Liberal person and his enactment haven't publically said she shouldn't task stateside; successful fact, they mightiness admit immoderate of her rhetoric, fixed that they've made a partisan advertisement retired of her remarks successful a U.S. interrogation that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is "in sync" with President Donald Trump's direction.

Smith, undeterred by thing the Carney Liberals haven't said (though the Alberta NDP has), headed down to Florida for different U.S. speaking engagement.

She said she's "going into the lion's den to alteration the hearts and minds of the precise Americans that we request connected Canada's broadside to debar a commercialized war." And connected Thursday night, Smith added, she'll talk "this clip done the second-largest podcaster successful the world" — Ben Shapiro.

Getting connected the already tariff-wary Shapiro's fashionable blimpish podcast could beryllium considered a coup successful Canada's persuasion run with Trump and his "make America large again" (MAGA) allies.

But that's not what Smith's doing down successful Florida.

She'll look alongside the commentator astatine a $1,500 US-a-ticket gala fundraiser for Prager University Foundation. It's not an accredited university, but the self-described "world's starring blimpish non-profit" that pumps retired acquisition videos and different materials designed to combat "woke themes and anti-American sentiment" successful schools.

The premier volition look connected a podcast, too, though 1 acold little fashionable than Shapiro's. It's hosted by Marissa Streit, the CEO of PragerU.

It's really lone a fewer weeks aft different Canadian dependable appeared connected Streit's Real Talk podcast — Tom MacDonald, a rapper primitively from Mission, B.C., dubbed by Rolling Stone arsenic a "MAGA rap kingpin."

Her archetypal question to the expat, delivered with a laugh: "Should Canada beryllium the 51st state?"

MacDonald sighed; he's nary "elbows up" patriot. "Well, I privation it would be, but I uncertainty it's going to happen."

As their chat proceeded, Streit compared Canada to communist Cuba. "Now I deliberation of Canadians arsenic refugees. There are truthful galore of you who travel present and don't privation to spell backmost and fearfulness stories. It's conscionable hard to judge due to the fact that you talk English successful Canada! You're expected to beryllium normal!"

(Emigration, oregon radical leaving Canada, has risen lately, but the gait of migration and colonisation maturation person go a bigger challenge.)

MacDonald, whose astir fashionable opus was 1 helium performed with the not-very-musical Shapiro, agreed with Streit astir his erstwhile country. "I would overmuch alternatively beryllium dealing with communism successful a lukewarm clime than successful Canada, due to the fact that it's acold and communist present and that sucks."

This is the benignant of lion's den-cum-gala ballroom that Danielle Smith is wading into successful these speaking events, which a premier's spokesperson says volition apt beryllium posted online by PragerU successful the coming days.

Smith's spouse astatine the PragerU fundraiser has repeated Trump's taunts astir taking implicit Canada arsenic the 51st state. But successful Shapiro and Smith, that gala volition diagnostic onstage 2 conservatives with akin views astir the economy-damaging tariffs.

And that's not each the 2 hold on. 

LISTEN | Danielle Smith's 'in sync' remarks about Pierre Poilievre and Donald Trump:

In a video posted aboriginal successful March, Shapiro echoed 2 arguable things Smith said successful that caller Breitbart News interview: that the commercialized warfare boosting Liberals' electoral hopes means that Trump tariffs are "things that guarantee that they stay successful power" — and that Poilievre volition align much with Trump conservatives.

"Are you going to get much from Canada with Pierre Poilievre arsenic the premier curate than you're going to get from Mark Carney?" Shapiro asked. "The reply is yes."

It's not wide what benefits Smith volition beryllium capable to extract for Alberta and Canada from these events, and this taxpayer-funded travel with an entourage of 4 premier's aides.

However, we tin usage the U.S. non-profit's records for a consciousness of what benefits her beingness tin bring to PragerU.

According to nationalist filings, its East Coast gala grossed $777,000 successful 2023 and $1.2 cardinal successful 2022.

Given the attack and pedigree of PragerU, it's an casual stake that this volition beryllium a solidly right-leaning assemblage that Smith is addressing successful Florida.

Founded successful 2009 by blimpish speech vigor big Dennis Prager, the outlet has agelong produced informational videos astir topics ranging from finances and past to termination and the Middle East, each with an purpose toward "changing minds" of young viewers.

There's 1 astir Canadian wellness care, successful which "Marcel" does his ain probe and persuades his dada to wage for tummy crab attraction successful a U.S. infirmary alternatively of waiting astatine home.

It has branched into making escaped cartoon videos and acquisition plans for schoolhouse classrooms to incorporated into curriculum. PragerU Kids materials person been sanctioned by 9 states, including Montana, Idaho, Texas and Florida, often with contention successful its wake.

"Their purpose is really rather successful enactment with the MAGA aim, which is to instrumentality the U.S. to what they spot arsenic mean motivation values," said Adrienne McCarthy, a Kansas State University researcher who has studied PragerU's contented and practices.

She said the radical has go adept astatine producing slick, high-quality videos stocked with right-leaning messages connected renewable vigor oregon taxation (including 1 past twelvemonth connected commercialized that's decidedly anti-tariff, a classically blimpish position).

"They are outwardly facing trying to look mean and entreaty to wide society," she said. "But what they're letting successful is overlapping with far-right ideology."

A header connected an MSNBC blog flatly called PragerU a "propaganda outlet." 

PragerU videos person been criticized for however they characterized the past of American slavery.

YouTube has applied "restricted mode" to respective PragerU videos, and successful 2020 removed immoderate videos astir transgender issues from the channel for violating hatred code rules.

PragerU denounced YouTube's moves arsenic censorship and fought unsuccessfully against the Google-owned app successful court.

What volition these blimpish lions perceive erstwhile a Canadian premier wades into their fundraising den? As her determined connection successful the legislature conveyed, Danielle Smith knows that Albertans and Canadians mightiness beryllium adjacent keener this clip to perceive in.