CANADA IS THE BEST OPTION: Alberta, Saskatchewan Make Compelling Case for Supplying U.S. With Oil: Pete Hoekstra

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The United States’ ambassador to Canada said Monday that Alberta and Saskatchewan could make the “most compelling” case to meet the oil needs of the U.S.

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“We want oil. We need oil,” Pete Hoekstra said on Monday, noting the U.S. needs to find three to four million more barrels per day over the next decade and Alberta is already a good business partner for the U.S.

“We have found over the last couple of decades that one of the best places in the world to get oil from is Canada,” he said at the annual summit of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region in Edmonton.

When Prime Minister Mark Carney met with U.S. President Donald Trump last fall, there were two members of Trump’s government that were more than eager to take up a preliminary offer from Carney to send more oil south of the border, Hoekstra said.

“The president had to advise them that crawling across the table and shaking Carney’s hand … was not necessarily the best negotiating strategy,” said Hoekstra, adding the U.S. has other options.

Prime Minister Mark Carney, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and U.S. President Donald Trump speak at the end of the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw in Dec. 2025. The leaders are currently in negotiations relating to CUSMA, the trilateral trade agreement between the three countries they represent. (Dan Mullan/The Associated Press)

Hoekstra touched on the ongoing trade uncertainty between Canada and the U.S., saying he expects an agreement to be reached at some point despite Trump declining to extend the existing Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement.

“They’re continuing to have discussions, and we’ll see where they end up,” he said.

Hoekstra noted that the U.S. was further along in talks with Mexico and reiterated that he thinks the fact that many Canadians soured on the U.S. is making it harder to get a deal in place.

US and Mexican trade officials are meeting this week in Mexico City, and Canadian negotiators are not at the table. We hear from Mexican journalist Eduardo Garcia about what’s at stake for Mexico, and from Goldy Hyder of the Business Council of Canada about how to approach negotiations now that the US says it does not want to extend the agreement as it is now.

The ambassador said he thinks Canada and the U.S. could partner in other areas, like critical mineral development, and noted the trade relationship between the two countries is critical for national security and economic reasons.

“This relationship is so critical,” he said. “We need to grow it, and we need stabilize it, and the future will be very, very bright for all of us.”

Hoekstra, who has clashed with Ontario Premier Doug Ford over cross-border trade, declined to speak negatively about any Canadian political leader and didn’t mention how Trump has threatened additional tariffs on Canada after wildfire smoke from northern Ontario blanketed multiple states in recent days.