POLITICS

Moe puts focus on accord reached with premiers

Premier Scott Moe is putting his personal crusade against Ottawa on the back burner, saying his first priority for federal-provincial relations is pushing a four-point program endorsed by all Canada’s premiers on Monday.

He said that now takes precedence over his “new deal for Canada” proposal, which he put forward immediately after the October federal election. He pitched it as a way to heal divisions between the federal government and Saskatchewan. It included calls for a pause on the carbon tax and a restructured equalization formula.

Moe said he will continue to advocate for those points. But his remarks on Tuesday suggested they will take a back seat to the more unifying agenda reached at a two-day Council of the Federation (COF) meeting that wrapped up near Toronto on Monday.

“I think when you have 13 premiers that have come to an agreement on these items, that is the priority, that is the priority for us here in the province of Saskatchewan,” he said Tuesday.

The premiers published a communiqué Monday outlining the priorities they agreed to at COF. They committed to an agenda focused on economic competitiveness, adjustments to the Fiscal Stabilization program, more money for health care and “nation-building activities” in the territories.

The communiqué delivered on much of what Moe was seeking. As he prepared to take off for Ontario last week, he said he believed consensus was possible on reforming the Fiscal Stabilization Program, a kind of insurance policy for provinces that experience steep revenue drops.

The premiers called on “the federal government to work with finance ministers to strengthen the Fiscal Stabilization Program to make it more responsive to economic circumstances and downturns in resource sectors without compromising other transfer programs.”

Moe said Tuesday that Saskatchewan has no precise demand on what changes should take place. He mentioned reforms to remove a per capita cap on payments or to adjust a threshold on natural resource revenues as possibilities.

He said equalization still needs to be “looked at in the future.” But equalization is far more divisive.

When asked about his agenda last week, Moe also pledged to seek consensus on the need for “meaningful legislative amendments and regulations” to address concerns about environmental assessment legislation, known as Bill C-69.

Moe got much of what he was looking for on that point, at least in broad strokes. The final communiqué included a priority to work “with the federal government to pursue improvements to the federal environmental assessment regime.”

But Western complaints have centred on pipelines. And it’s clear there was no meeting of the minds at COF. Quebec Premier Francois Legault has long been an opponent of an oil pipeline on his territory. He told reporters on Monday that the subject was not discussed.

Moe said all four priorities agreed on by the premiers are equally important, and will be equally privileged in negotiations with the federal government. The premiers are planning to present their demands to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a first ministers meeting in the new year.

Moe’s new deal for Canada plan was unveiled Oct. 22, when Moe said a fire is burning on the Prairies in light of the election results.