Ontario Premier Doug Ford wants Alberta to consider restricting oil exports to the United States as Canada escalates its trade fight with President Donald Trump.

There's a rather large problem with that proposal.

Canadians have every reason to be upset with the breakdown in the trade negotiations with the United States. The U.S. tariffs are harmful to both countries and are straining one of the most successful trading relationships on earth.

Canada now faces significant job losses, and… pic.twitter.com/UgVgXFvy6F

— Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) August 24, 2026

Ontario wants Alberta to stop selling energy to the Americans while Ontario continues buying energy from the Americans.

And even much of the Western Canadian oil Ontario relies upon has to travel through the United States to get there.

Ontario imports virtually all the crude oil and natural gas it consumes.

According to the Ontario government's own energy plan, approximately 86 percent of the crude processed by Ontario refineries comes from Western Canada, while the remaining 14 percent comes from the United States.

But look at the route that Canadian oil takes.

The Enbridge Mainline begins in Edmonton, crosses the Prairies, enters the United States in Manitoba, travels through the American Midwest and then re-enters Canada at Sarnia, Ontario.

The Canada Energy Regulator says there is currently no crude oil pipeline running entirely through Canada connecting Western Canadian producers with Eastern Canadian refineries.

Line 5, one of the critical pieces of that network, carries Western Canadian crude and natural gas liquids through Wisconsin and Michigan before crossing back into Ontario.

Ontario's own government calls Line 5 critical to the province's energy security.

Then there's natural gas.

Ontario produces almost none of the natural gas it consumes and has become heavily dependent on supplies from the United States. Ontario's own energy plan says approximately two-thirds of its natural gas supply in recent years has come from the U.S., particularly Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. Only about one-third comes from Western Canada.

So consider what Alberta is being asked to do. Premier Ford says Alberta should stop selling oil to the United States.

Meanwhile, Ontario can continue buying American natural gas and American crude oil, while relying on American territory and pipelines to transport much of the Western Canadian crude it consumes.

If Ford believes cutting energy ties with the United States is an appropriate response to American tariffs, why does the sacrifice begin with Alberta's exports rather than Ontario's imports?

Canada never built an all-Canadian oil pipeline connecting Western Canadian production to Ontario's refineries.

Now Ontario wants Alberta to jeopardize the American market Alberta spent decades building, while Ontario remains dependent on American energy and American territory to keep its own economy supplied.

That's a tough sell in Alberta. And it feeds directly into the independence debate.

Albertans are being asked to risk their province's largest industry in a trade war while Canada's largest province continues purchasing American energy.

If politicians are wondering why independence sentiment persists in Alberta, proposals like this aren't exactly helping.