Alberta will patrol shared border with Montana as tariff threat looms: premier

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the province is ready to take border security into its own hands.

"(We're) working on ways to get sheriffs and drones to the border so that we can demonstrate with action that we are serious about addressing issues we have heard about," Smith said.

"I think it's incumbent upon us to work with our federal counterparts, our border security, Montana officials to make sure that we're sharing information and making sure we're apprehending people meaning to do us harm."

Smith's comments come after an hours-long meeting between Canada's premiers and the federal government Wednesday.

The meeting was called as Ottawa pushes a "Team Canada" approach to President-Elect Donald Trump's pledge to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all goods from Canada and Mexico.

Trump said the tariff will be imposed in January and will remain until concerns about border security and illegal immigration are addressed.

"Donald Trump's two favorite trade strategies are divide and conquer and cause panic. We've already partially fallen into the divide and conquer strategy," said Carlo Dade, director of trade and trade infrastructure at the Canada West Foundation.

Smith said Alberta has already reached out to its Montana counterparts about a joint strategy to patrol the shared border.

"We've asked the federal government to develop a robust federal border security plan. I hope that they reveal that soon," she said.

A tariff, if implemented, would hit some of Canada's biggest industries the hardest, including Alberta's oil and gas industry.

Last year alone, Alberta exported $156.3 billion south to the U.S.

Crude petroleum made up the majority of those exports, totalling $113.4 billion—73 per cent.

Jeremiah Buckingham with Ramsay Customs and Logistics in Calgary said a tariff and any potential response by Canada would have a big impact on his customers—and consumers as a whole.

"The first thing that we thought when this announcement came on was just how much fear this is going to raise for Canadian businesses," he said.

"This could result in Canadian businesses being uncompetitive or it will raise the cost to consumers."