REGINA - Premier Scott Moe has offered his congratulations to Prime Minister Mark Carney on the Liberals' win in the federal election Monday.
“Canadians have spoken and I would take this opportunity to congratulate Prime Minister Mark Carney on his election win,” said Moe at a news conference Tuesday. But in his remarks Moe noted that while the Liberals had “very strong support in some parts of Canada, there are many Canadians, including most of us in Saskatchewan, who voted for a degree of change.”
“And now it's up to you to show that you have heard that message and to deliver change, not only for Saskatchewan people, but for many Canadians as well, for Saskatchewan industries that help drive the Canadian economy and very much are part of the Canadian economy, to provide some degree of change for Saskatchewan people.”
Moe seemed to offer a conciliatory tone in his remarks, while also holding the Liberals’ feet to the fire on delivering on pledges made by Carney during his victory speech.
“Last night, what I heard was that Prime Minister Carney said that he wants to work with both Saskatchewan and Alberta,” said Moe.
“He's also said that he wants to make Canada into a global leading energy superpower. And that's great to hear, but those are nothing but words. And I would say, and I've said it many times, that policies truly do matter, in particular in this space. And so some of the government's policies, the federal government's policies, they quite simply are going to need to change in order for Canada to achieve that goal.”
Moe also noted that Prime Minister Carney has said that “we must deal with the United States of America and the Trump administration from a position of strength, and I couldn't agree more with that statement.”
“And making Canada the world leading energy superpower would be a pretty good start to dealing with the United States, as well as any other allied country from a position of strength.”
Moe said they have some ideas on how they can jointly achieve this as a provincial government and “what policies this new administration may need to alter to some degree in order for us as Canadians to achieve that global energy superpower.”
“So I would say that this is an opportunity for each and all of us to hit the reset button, if you will, on the federal government's relationship withthe province and the people of Saskatchewan.” Moe said he hoped this offer is taken.
Moe also took the opportunity to “invite Prime Minister Carney to a meeting here in Saskatchewan where we'd love to host him to chart a productive path forward for our province within the nation of Canada.”
“I want to work alongside this federal government to build a strong and growing Saskatchewan, as I said, within a very united and strong and growing nation of Canada. So I look forward to meeting with the new Prime Minister as soon as possible so that we can start working together to achieve that mutual goal that we have.”
When asked what he was looking for, Moe said the first ask is to “let's just stop with the unconsulted policies of which we've seen far too many over the course of the last decade or so."
"We've talked at length of Bill C-69 right today. We have a uranium mine that has all of its provincial approvals and has for the last two years and has just recently been delayed from receiving all of the federal approvals as well moving forward. So it's not just the oil and gas industry that we're discussing here but it's the entirety of our economy. We have some ideas on how we can, you know, alter not change or end Bill C-69 or any environmental impact assessment because that's important but alter it so that it ie working not only for gauging any environmental impact that might be there and protecting Those that live in the area and protecting the duty to consult process that we have but ensuring that investment can actually flow into places like a new uranium mine which would employ many northern and Indigenous residents and provide clean fuel to the world."
But Moe added there are a “few policies that are going to have to go.”
”You know, the clean electricity regulations are just not possible if we are truly to have affordable power for Saskatchewan residents and attract industries to work here. The oil emissions cap or the production cap simply has to be set aside understanding how far Saskatchewan oil production has come from the sustainability perspective and I even think there's a path forward when it comes to a conversation around the industrial carbon tax on what it is and not is not applied to here in the province...”
As for the federal election results, and in particular the nationwide decimation of the federal NDP, Moe said that “what we saw last night was officially the takeover of the NDP party by the Liberals for all intents and purposes.”
“I think in Saskatchewan since 1935 you haven't seen the NDP poll below a 20 per cent showing. They were six or seven percent last night. So the takeover of the NDP party by the Liberals across Canada is virtually complete. It has been essentially there the last four years with their supply and confidence agreement but Canadians have voted on where that is going and so that takeover is virtually complete.”
Moe said we are “entering a two-party system in Canada. A two-party system much like we've seen south of the border and you're seeing a very significantly different proportion of vote going to those parties from the west side of Toronto right out to including the lower mainland in British Columbia. So the prime minister has some work to do. What we're saying and what we're offering is we'll be part of that work and we will do what we can to provide you with some guidance from our perspective on how we can hopefully heal some of those divisions. “
He also pointed to newly elected Liberal MP for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River Buckley Belanger, himself a former NDP MLA, as “another example” of the “completion of the takeover of the NDP party.”
