A new Abacus Data poll says seven in 10 Canadians surveyed want provincial restrictions on American alcohol to remain in place, as the Trump administration increases trade pressure on Canada.

But Abacus didn't poll Albertans or Saskatchewan residents, where provincial governments have taken a fundamentally different approach to Canada's increasingly confrontational relationship with the United States.

Alberta and Saskatchewan initially participated in a ban on American booze but changed course. Both provinces lifted their restrictions in June 2025, leaving retailers and consumers free to decide whether they wanted to purchase American products.

They remain the only provinces to have lifted their bans, a distinction later specifically noted by the White House.

The survey questioned 1,363 adults in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Atlantic Canada. It found 69% wanted their provinces to maintain restrictions on American alcohol, while 19% wanted the restrictions lifted.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has pursued a deliberately combative strategy, using American liquor and other trade measures to retaliate against Washington.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has generally argued for negotiation and de-escalation rather than creating additional disputes with Canada's largest trading partner.

After the latest American tariff threats, Smith again rejected calls to reinstate Alberta's liquor restrictions, saying decisions about American products should be left to retailers and consumers.

Albertans who don't want to buy American bourbon are perfectly capable of leaving it on the shelf, while Albertans who do want to buy it can. A consumer boycott is a choice. A government ban isn't.

The consequences of the more confrontational approach are no longer hypothetical.

When President Donald Trump announced another round of tariffs against Canada in July, the American government explicitly cited provincial restrictions on American alcohol as a trade grievance.

The White House accused Canada of discriminating against American alcoholic beverages while continuing to permit competing products from other countries.

It said U.S. alcohol exports to Canada had fallen approximately 81%, from about $718 million to $137 million, following the restrictions.

The White House also singled out Alberta and Saskatchewan as exceptions, noting they had lifted their restrictions while the other provinces maintained theirs.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer similarly pointed to Canada's treatment of American alcohol alongside disputes over dairy and automobiles when explaining the latest American trade action. Whatever Canadians think about Trump or the justification for his tariffs, that fact isn't really debatable: the U.S> specifically identified the booze bans as one of its grievances against Canada.

That makes the difference between Alberta's approach and Ontario's more than political theatre.

One province has repeatedly looked for ways to escalate the dispute. Alberta has generally tried to avoid adding unnecessary irritants to an already difficult relationship.

Even among the Canadians Abacus actually surveyed, support for the restrictions isn't evenly distributed.

The poll found support at 72% in British Columbia, 69% in Ontario and Atlantic Canada, and 63% in Manitoba. Age also makes a substantial difference, with support reaching 78% among Canadians aged 60 and older.

Politics makes an even bigger difference.

Among NDP voters, 84% support maintaining the restrictions. Among Liberal voters, 83% support them. Among Conservatives, support falls to 53%, while one-third favour lifting the restrictions.

That makes the absence of Alberta and Saskatchewan particularly relevant.

Both provinces have substantially different political cultures from several of the regions surveyed, and their governments have already chosen the opposite policy.

The dispute illustrates a larger question facing Canada.

Should relations with the U.S. be based on retaliation and confrontation, even when those measures risk producing further American retaliation? Or should governments try to keep trade flowing, negotiate disagreements and avoid creating new irritants where possible?

Alberta has enormous reasons to care about the answer.

The U.S. is by far Alberta's largest international customer. Alberta's energy, agriculture, petrochemical and manufacturing industries depend heavily on access to American markets.

For Alberta, maintaining a functional relationship with the U.S. isn't an abstract foreign-policy debate. It's an economic necessity.

That's why Alberta's approach has been noticeably different from the reflexive anti-Americanism that has characterized parts of Canada's response to the trade dispute.