REGINA - The big story this week in Saskatchewan politics is once again the Trump tariff threat and how Saskatchewan should respond to it.
After this week, the talk in political and media circles is about whether Premier Scott Moe is still on board with the “Team Canada” unified response to the tariff threat.
The “Team Canada” approach is often characterized as support for a hard-hitting and broad-based response to the tariff threat from Canada, an approach that premiers such as Ontario’s Doug Ford have supported.
A week earlier, it seemed like Moe was in support of a unified response by the First Ministers. Moe was one of 12 premiers to sign on to the First Ministers’ communique following those discussions of how to respond to Trump.
But Alberta Premier Danielle Smith broke from the rest of the Premiers. She refused to sign, out of concern that federal government officials were continuing to float the idea of cutting off energy supply to the U.S. and impose export tariffs on Alberta energy.
In the days following the First Ministers meeting in Ottawa, Moe received a roasting on social media from posters who thought that he, too, ought to have stood up to the rest of the Premiers and walked out of the meeting.
But this past Wednesday at a news conference at the Saskatchewan Legislature, Moe laid out and clarified Saskatchewan’s position with respect to tariffs. In doing so, Moe sounded a lot closer to Smith’s stance than to the other premiers and Prime Minister.
In his remarks Moe spoke of the need to “deescalate the conversation” around increased tariffs, and spoke against a broad-based response and against export tariffs.
In the aftermath of those comments, some commentators on social media suggested the “Team Canada” unity might be falling apart and that dissent was brewing in the ranks of the Premiers.
When asked directly on Wednesday on whether he was moving away from a unified approach, Moe insisted he was not.
“No, no, no,” Moe said. “There's always going to be differences at that table, and there should be. I mean, we're a pretty diverse nation. And I've been never one really to hide the differences that I have with this particular federal government. And I certainly have some differences with them on this conversation. But that doesn't mean that we don't work collaboratively certainly where we can for the greater good.
“ … I think I've been very clear with what Saskatchewan's position is all along, and been very clear with part of Saskatchewan's position is to work alongside whoever the federal government is in the engagement efforts that they have. But we have our own as well. And I think today part of that is we're going to refocus and amplify our efforts in the non-U.S. markets as well.”
One issue Moe thought the other leaders should prioritize was addressing the issue of border security. This week, President Donald Trump again pointed to border concerns and the amount of fentanyl entering the USA as a main reason why he is seeking to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canada. Moe supported an approach addressing those concerns.
“We should be talking about that at every conversation that we have,” Moe said.
“It's an identified issue by the President. It's an identified issue by Canadians. Rather than talking about what level of retaliatory tariffs everyone is looking at and escalating the conversation around tariffs, we should be focusing on the issues that have been raised. Our two per cent NATO funding is going to be an issue that has been raised and will continue to be raised.
“And I think we have to have, as Canadians, a very serious discussion around what our funding level commitment is, and can we advance that. And I think not all, potentially, but I would say many premiers would be open to that discussion as Canadians.”
While Moe was talking about border security, Opposition Leader Carla Beck was proposing a tariffs response that took a page out of the TV series Mad Men.
At her media availability Beck said she would support advertising spending in key markets where Saskatchewan does business, to send a message of how damaging tariffs would be. In making the suggestion Beck pointed to another advertising investment she had been less impressed with.
“We saw this government spend over $200,000 advertising on Dubai subways,” said Beck. “This is at least as important as that advertising. We need to take this message directly to consumers in the U.S. to make sure that they understand what's at stake for them.”
She suggested putting those ads in states that export the most to Saskatchewan such as Illinois, Iowa and Texas.
“Again, this is something we would encourage but this is what we're hearing from industry with significant interest on both sides of the border. What we're hearing from them is their approach and what they think would be most effective when it comes to ensuring that we don't see these tariffs imposed.”
Beck also told reporters that what Saskatchewan people want to see is that leaders of all levels are “doing everything possible to ensure that we don't get those tariffs, but also that there is a plan should those tariffs come into place, whether that's February 1st or who knows when, some time in the future.
“We also need to hear assurances. And again, I understand that it would not be effective or reasonable to show all of our cards on the table right now when we're in the midst of negotiations, but assurances that whatever approach is going to be taken at the federal level, that the Premier has assurances, has a guarantee that Saskatchewan will not be playing a disproportionate role or a price when it comes to that approach.”
FCL pause on projects a concern
The other big issue raised in political circles this week was the impact of both the Bunge-Viterra merger, and the pause of Federated Co-operatives Ltd.’s renewable diesel and canola crush joint venture projects.
The news prompted the NDP to call for the recall of the Standing Committee on the Economy to address the economic concerns.
At Wednesday’s news conference, Moe was asked about FCL and he said he believed the canola crush plant joint venture was paused due to policy.
“That's policy. That's federal policy around the clean fuel standard. And I think maybe the uncertainty of whether or not that policy would be moving forward into the future. And it was a policy that, yes, it precipitated investment for all refineries, not just FCL.
“We're looking at significant investment to achieve some of the criteria or parameters that were put out in the clean fuel standard. There's other ways that I think – and I won't speak for FCL or any other refinery – there's uncertainty around the future of the clean fuel standard, but there's also other ways that they're able to reduce the carbon content of the fuel that they produce. And I think that's what you see happening here is the potential uncertainty of policies that have been brought in.”
Moe remained confident in meeting the threshold of having 75 per cent of canola crush in Saskatchewan. He pointed to a doubling of the plant capacity at the two plants in Yorkton, the investment of Cargill outside Regina, and added they were continuing to be in conversation with Bunge-Viterra on a plant in Regina.
“I think it's fair to say that we still will meet our 75 per cent crush target here in the province. We were poised to go far beyond that and actually, to some degree, maybe even become a canola importer. Not only the largest canola producer in Canada, but become a canola importer because of the crush capacity that we would have.”
As for the Bunge acquisition of Viterra, Moe said his government has engaged with Bunge in the previous months. He did not seem to sound the alarm bells that the Opposition has in the last week about the deal.
“They've assured us that this is an opportunity for Bunge not to find deficiencies, but to actually grow the business, not just in Saskatchewan or Western Canada, but to use the presence that they'll have to grow their business here,” said Moe.
“... Now I think they'll be looking at what the opportunities are for the crush plant that was announced by Viterra previously, as they ultimately make a decision whether they're going to continue to move forward with that. It'll be our hopes that they certainly do.”