Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is defending her appearance at a Florida fundraiser with a U.S. far right influencer.

Smith will be joined on stage by Ben Shapiro, editor-in-chief of the Daily Wire and host of a popular podcast show, on Thursday at a fundraiser for PragerU, an advocacy and media group that promotes conservative viewpoints.

A frequent provocateur, Shapiro has previously called Canada the "Puerto Rico" of the north and suggested support for making the country a 51st state.

Smith said in a statement on Wednesday that the appearance was part of her ongoing advocacy for Alberta in the looming tariff war and the event was an opportunity to engage with "influential Americans."

"This is an important opportunity to gain support in the U.S. and add voices to the conversation that will help amplify Alberta's, and Canada's, calls to work together on solutions and to rebuild our important trade relationship."

The U.S. is Alberta's largest trading partner with exports of nearly $163 billion in 2024, about 80 per cent of which are energy-related products. That makes the province the second largest exporter to the U.S. among Canadian provinces and territories.

In turn, Alberta imports about $25 billion worth of U.S. products, which the government says is an underestimate.

Smith was criticized by NDP House Leader Christina Gray during Wednesday's Question Period for comments she made to an interviewer for Breitbart in early March in which she called on the U.S. to hold off on tariffs until after the federal election. Some accused her of trying to encourage the U.S. to meddle in the election to the benefit of the Conservative Party.

The premier fired back, saying her comments were no different than the message she and other premiers have been making for months.

"Asking officials not to interfere is very opposite of interference and I would hope that the members opposite would like to see everything possible done to ensure we do not have tariffs imposed in Canada at all, on any product.

"That's what I've been advocating for since November, and is what I will continue advocating for.

"We've had some success in our advocacy in getting the administration to realize that energy resources had to be treated in a different way."

Gray accused the premier of doubling down on her foreign interference defence.

The premier responded, saying, "For months, not only myself but all the premiers and also the federal government to reach out to federal counterparts to do everything we possibly could in order to prevent tariffs from being imposed."

Smith accused Gray's office of "not making a single phone call. That's the reason they're attacking us today."

Gray also took aim at the Shapiro appearance.

The premier again criticized the NDP for not pushing back on Canadian federal government promises to put its own tariffs on Alberta and Saskatchewan exports.

Smith said the NDP were on Team Liberal and Team Carney instead of Team Alberta and "they should get onside with Alberta."

The premier's office says Shapirio's Daily Wire reaches 220 million monthly and he has 25 million social media followers. PragerU's media platform reaches 10 million followers.