REGINA - Premier Scott Moe expressed confidence Thursday that there would be good relations between Saskatchewan and the new Donald Trump administration in the USA.
At a media availability at Government House following the swearing-in of his new cabinet, Premier Moe told reporters that with Trump returning to the White House, and Republicans looking to be the majority in the House and Senate, that “we will be most supportive of all engagement that the Canadian government undertakes with this new administration, as well as the outgoing administration.”
Moe added they will “also look at engaging for what opportunities we have through the Council of Federation, through the 13 premiers across the nation." He said the province will "leverage the contacts that we have developed over the last number of years" from a "province-to-nation-relationship perspective.”
Moe pointed to the extensive efforts undertaken by his government to build relationships with lawmakers in the USA on both sides of the aisle.
“As you know, and at times, some have criticized the time that we have spent, whether it be ministers or myself in Washington, D.C., working on relationships both on the Democratic side as well as the Republican side. I think today, in light of a change in administration in the U.S., that we can be thankful that we have made those efforts on all three fronts, whether it be supporting our federal government, engaging with the new administration, supporting through the Council of Federation table premiers' engagement, but also ensuring that we are representing Saskatchewan's interests, not just in the U.S.A., but I would say in other areas of the world as well.”
He said that with the U.S.A. being their largest trading partner, that the two topics Saskatchewan would be engaging on are market access and trade, “given some of the comments of the incoming President-elect.”
Premier Moe also said they “mirrored some of the concerns, questions, and conversations” respecting policies Trump had talked about respecting immigration, and “ultimately the potential impact of asylum seekers in our nation and for our concern in our province as well.”
Moe said he looked forward to engaging on those topics, and looked forward to “a fruitful relationship with the incoming Trump administration, of which we have many contacts, in our quest to work together to provide North American food and energy security.”
When asked if he was concerned about exports going to the USA, particularly in farming and ranching, Moe pointed again to the province’s “significant presence over the last number of years to build relationships in Washington, D.C. and more broadly across the U.S.” he also said it was why they had trade offices in other nations as well, pointing to India, China, the United Arab Emirates, Europe, the European Union, as well as London.
“So I think the concern is always there. A new administration, I think it maybe changes the conversation to some degree with some of the talk around tariffs and such. But at the end of the day, we are confident, and we've worked through this before, particularly with the previous Trump administration, whether it be on steel sanctions and tariffs or whether it be on potentially uranium sanctions and tariffs, that we will rely on the relationships that we've built from that province-to-nation perspective, but support the other avenues as well. So a little bit different conversation maybe than what was here before, but ending and focusing in the same place of working together to provide that North American energy and food security.”
