Moe challenges Trudeau to talk

Premier maintains it’s up to PM to solve push for western separatism

Premier Scott Moe is offering to go to Ottawa for a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and push his “new deal for Canada” as a way of dampening an apparent surge of western separatist rhetoric he hasn’t explicitly dismissed or condemned.

In a scrum with reporters on Monday to mark the opening of the Regina Bypass, Moe challenged

Trudeau to meet with him this week. He said there’s some “back and forth” between the two sides over the prospect, but no date has been set.

Asked what the re-elected Liberal prime minister can do to mend fences with the West, Moe challenged him to put the federal carbon backstop on hold, restructure equalization and ensure pipelines get built.

That’s precisely the “new deal for Canada” plan Moe unveiled the day after election results showed the Liberals shut out of Saskatchewan and Alberta. He was criticized at the time for failing to explicitly dismiss or condemn calls for separatism that cropped up on social media. He merely called himself a “frustrated federalist” who believes in a united Canada.

Moe faced the same questions on Monday afternoon and again avoided calling out separatists. He said it’s up to Trudeau to heal the divisions Ottawa has opened up. He said calls for separation are a “reaction” to federal policies over the past four years.

“My position is that Saskatchewan should be in a strong and united Canada,” said Moe. “We have to work with the prime minister of Canada to ensure that Saskatchewan will be a strong and united partner within the nation. This conversation is in the prime minister’s hands.”

Moe was noncommittal when asked if he’d be willing to offer any concessions on his three demands to come to an understanding with Trudeau, though he said there is “room for a real conversation” around issues like climate change and pipelines.

“We most certainly would like to sit down and have the discussion,” he said.

Trudeau has pointed to a need to listen to western Canadians and find a way to respond to their concerns. But important gaps at the cabinet table will make that more difficult. Saskatchewan has lost its only cabinet minister in the Trudeau government with Regina—wascana MP Ralph Goodale’s defeat, while Alberta lost its seat at the table with the defeat of Edmonton Mill Woods MP Amarjeet Sohi.

Commentators have floated names like Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi and former Alberta premier Allison Redford as potential “bridge builders” to facilitate links between the federal cabinet and the West. Moe did not have any Saskatchewan names to mention when asked how the province should ensure it has a voice where decisions are made in Ottawa.

“The question is not who is in the cabinet,” he said. “The question is what that cabinet actually does.”

He said he’ll continue to stand up for the province on issues of provincial jurisdiction. Beyond that, it’s up to the prime minister and his cabinet to engage with whomever they choose.

Moe said two moments of truth are coming up in the next few months that will show whether the prime minister is serious about reaching out to provinces that spurned the Liberals on Oct. 21.

He explained that the federal finance minister will soon announce how much money is going to which provinces through equalization, likely this December, while the federal carbon tax is set to shoot up another $10 per tonne of emissions early next year.

Ottawa has already ruled out any changes to the equalization formula until 2024, and even Conservative leader Andrew Scheer steered clear of any pledge to tinker with it.

Moe has challenged the federal government to award half of the pot on a purely per capita basis.