You have to admire the sheer lack of manners in politics these days. It used to be that if you wanted to steal your neighbor’s land, you had to invent a war or at least lie about a map. Now? You just send **Scott Bessent**, the **US Treasury Secretary nominee**, to wink and say, "Hey, nice place you got there. Would be a shame if it stayed part of Canada." That is exactly what happened this week. Amid rising tensions over **US-Canada tariffs**, Bessent looked at **Alberta** and basically asked it to prom while its boyfriend, Ottawa, was standing right there holding the punch bowl.

Bessent officially called Alberta a "natural partner." That sounds nice, right? It sounds like something you say to a friend. It is not. In the world of high-stakes **energy policy**, "natural partner" is code for "we want your stuff." Specifically, the US wants **Alberta oil and gas**, and we do not really care about the rest of the country attached to it. It is like telling a guy you love his kidney, but you find his face annoying. The US government is looking at Canada not as a friend, but as a buffet where they only want the steak and want to leave the salad.

This all comes while everyone is yelling about the proposed **25 percent tariff** on imports. The big boss in Washington is threatening to slap a tax on everything coming from Canada and Mexico. This is a classic bully move. You threaten to take someone’s lunch money, and when they panic, you offer them a "deal." The deal here seems to be splitting the country up. It is ugly, it is rude, and it is exactly how the global economy works now. Nobody cares about lines on a map or old friendships. They care about dollars.

Let’s look at why this is so funny and so sad at the same time. **Alberta separatism** has been a simmering topic because the province has been mad at Ottawa for a long time. They feel ignored. They feel like they do all the work, dig up all the oil, make all the money, and then Ottawa takes it and spends it on things Alberta hates. It is a bad marriage. They sleep in separate beds. They argue about the bills. And now, here comes the cool guy from south of the border, driving a loud car, saying, "Baby, you don't need him. You're a natural partner for me."

Ottawa is freaking out, of course. They are in a "war of words" with Washington. That is a fancy way of saying they are yelling at each other on the news. But what can they really do? Canada is small. The US is huge. If the US decides it wants to be best friends with just one province, it makes the actual government in Canada look weak. And let’s be honest, they already look pretty weak. When your own family members are flirting with the neighbor, you have lost control of the house.

But let’s not pretend the US is doing this out of the kindness of its heart. The US doesn't care about Alberta's feelings. The US cares about energy security. If Alberta was full of nothing but snow and nice people, Scott Bessent wouldn't look twice. But because there is black gold in the ground, suddenly they are "partners." It is the oldest trick in the book. Flattery is cheap when you want something expensive.

This whole thing shows just how fake national borders really are when money is involved. We act like countries are solid things that last forever. But the second the cash flow gets tight, or a bigger country gets greedy, those lines start to get blurry. You have a US official openly talking about a Canadian province like it is a separate country ready to make its own deals. That is wild. It is disrespectful. And it is totally predictable.

So now we watch the show. Ottawa will cry about rules and loyalty. Alberta will smile and blush because the popular kid noticed them. And the US will keep pushing, seeing just how much they can get for free. It is a mess. It is stupid. It is politics. Nobody is the good guy here. Everyone is just looking out for number one, and they don't care if they have to tear a country apart to do it. Welcome to the neighborhood.

### References & Fact-Check * **Original Event**: Scott Bessent, Donald Trump's pick for US Treasury Secretary, described Alberta as a "natural partner" regarding energy, sparking controversy over Alberta's relationship with Ottawa. * **Source**: [BBC News: 'A natural partner': US treasury secretary weighs in on Alberta separatism](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8ylqx0zw4o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss) * **Context**: The comments were made amidst threats of a 25% tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods by the incoming US administration, highlighting tensions over cross-border trade and energy independence.