Moe discusses Saskatchewan’s relationship with Ottawa on Evan Bray Show

As Prime Minister Mark Carney sits down with U.S. President Donald Trump to try and improve relations between Canada and its southern neighbour, Saskatchewan’s premier is sharing his thoughts on how the province can improve its strained relationship with Ottawa.

Scott Moe shared his thoughts on his recent phone call with Carney, as well as some of the big issues he’s hoping will be addressed in Ottawa during an interview on the Evan Bray Show on Tuesday. Moe also discussed the question of western separatism, which has been brought up in both Saskatchewan and Alberta following the Liberal Party’s election win last Monday.

Read More:

• Saskatchewan NDP wants clearer answers on western separation
• Moe says he’s Canadian but wouldn’t stop vote on Saskatchewan separating from Canada
• Carney set to meet with Trump at White House amid tariff turmoil today

Listen to the full interview with Moe, or read the transcript below:

The following questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.

EVAN BRAY: It’s a pretty big trade war summit happening in Washington today. Everyone is wanting to throw their comments out in terms of advice for Prime Minister Mark Carney, what would your advice be for the prime minister heading into this meeting with Donald Trump?

SCOTT MOE: Well, two things. I think it’s a national government or the prime minister’s job to represent Canada’s position. But then also understand the dynamics of who the president is. And, you know, let him be who he is (and) don’t take any of that personally in any way. I’ve always said take what he says seriously, but maybe not literally, and that is true. But it is the prime minister’s job to represent Canada’s position when it comes to, ultimately, what is going to be the renegotiation of our, trade deal, which is the most important trade deal in the world. This is where sub-nationals and the national government, I think, can actually work quite well together. We’ve been down there numerous times – as have other provinces over the last number of months – meeting with states and regions of interest where we do trade, educating and advocating on the importance of the trade deal and the consequences of tariffs, interjecting tariffs into that deal, and you know the consequences is virtually always higher prices for Americans and a less competitive North American economy. And so I hope that that education and that advocacy is actually finding its way into the president’s office as we go into the meeting today, and I hope today goes well.

I think we’re all watching and trying to not get ahead of ourselves. What does success look like after today’s meeting?

What I would be looking for is maybe a commitment from both sides to do the five-year renegotiate of USMCA, or the update or review, or whatever they want to call it of USMCA moving forward. USMCA covers about 60 or 70 per cent of the products that are being traded back and forth across the border. As time evolves, those trade deals need to be updated, and I think ours is in that space now. If we could get it to that table where the heavy work is happening, that might tone down some of the conversations and the rhetoric that we hear and allow us to get into a little more certain environment. And that’s that’s precisely what we want in Saskatchewan, and I think Canadians share that desire.

We carried your news conference live last week, premier, on this radio station and in that meeting you basically talked about, “it’s time to push the reset button the newly elected Liberal government.” You were looking to have a one-on-one conversation with Prime Minister Mark Carney in person. You had a phone call, correct?

We did, yes.

How did that go? Can you talk about what you discussed on that phone call?

Well, I’ve only had phone calls with one other sitting prime minister, and I would say that this one was a, probably the best. For sure the strongest phone call that I’ve had. The words were good, and the understanding of the divisions across our nation was realized. And I had raised a number of issues, many of them economic which would be no surprise to anyone listening to this call. (I) have taken a significant issue, and Saskatchewan has taken significant issue, with a number of economic policies over the last decade, but also other policies, like maybe some of the softening that we’ve seen in the Criminal Code of Canada that is starting to really show in, in our streets, in our communities, in Saskatchewan and across Canada, and we need to strengthen the Criminal Code of Canada and give our enforcement officers and our justice system the ability to to really keep our our communities safe. And so there’s a few other items that I raised as well, and I invited him to come to Saskatchewan and have a little more in-depth discussion about not only Saskatchewan issues, but how Saskatchewan can actually, in a very big way, contribute to the success of Canada moving forward.

Did you have a sense that an in-person meeting is likely to happen?

Yeah, I do. And like I said, it was a positive call. The words were good. I was very clear I appreciate the willingness to listen and to commit to having some conversations about where these sensitive points are moving forward, and we’ll get into that in the weeks and months ahead. However, if it isn’t followed up with action we are going to have a significant challenge, and those divisions will remain across Canada. And so, like I said, it was a positive call. I think it’s all you could expect from the first call. We just had an election, and the result wasn’t what many in Saskatchewan wanted. However, that is the one time every four years that Canadians have a voice, a voice to elect the government, and he is the prime minister and so it is incumbent on us to do what we can to work with him, and I hope that he will certainly put the best foot forward and reverse some of the policies that the Liberal government has been moving on – supported by the NDP every step of the way the last number of years.

In that news conference you talked about an opportunity to hit the reset button. You highlighted – I think quite well – what the priorities would be for Saskatchewan. But you also said at one point, everyone might have to give a little bit. What do you see that Saskatchewan might have to be willing to give a bit on?

Well there’s some space in the in the economic world, like some of the economic policies that they have like the industrial carbon tax where, our ask is for the federal government to turn over the administration of that program to the to the province. And every province is a little bit unique. Largely, ours is on power generation. And so we can save Saskatchewan consumers money, but still work with our industries on on lowering their emissions. And so there’s some uniqueness to how each province administers that. And one size doesn’t fit all, which is what is in place right now. So there’s an example where we could work with them. Some of the Criminal Code opportunities that we have to make our community safer is to work closely, not only I’d say with the province, but with our law enforcement agencies as well as our our justice systems so that we are truly giving people the opportunity for rehabilitation when it’s there. But keeping our community safe has to be paramount, and has to be front and has to be front and center, and so there I think there’s some opportunities to really overlay some of that conversation in the policy development so that we we actually are achieving what we want to achieve. And in that case, it’s safe communities and providing those that might be committing property crimes due to drug addictions the opportunity for recovery.

I had Dan Williams on last week. He’s the Alberta minister of mental health and addictions. They have an Alberta recovery model that will include, if passed, the compassionate intervention act – essentially secure treatment. I know I’ve talked about that with ministers in this province before, but now that we’re on the topic is that something we’re likely to see Saskatchewan go down the path of?

Likely. And I think you’ll see many provinces having a very serious look at that. Ken Sim, the mayor of Vancouver, in light of the most recent tragedy – and our heart remains with the Filipino community across Canada – had made the comment that there’s people in our communities that are not capable of directing their own health care. That’s what Alberta has recognized. I think British Columbia is having a look at this very space, as well as is Saskatchewan. So I think this is the next conversation as we build out. Recovery capacity… is there a place for people that, unfortunately, are very much living a life of addictions and all that comes with that in the criminal world? For them to actually be put into a recovery center so that they can at least have an opportunity for a better life. So I think that conversation is coming not only in Saskatchewan, but it should be coming across Canada.

Last area that I want to venture into is what I will call fairly loud and emotional voices around western separation in light of last week’s election. It’s running high. I know you’ve spoken to this before. Alberta’s premier, Danielle Smith, spoke to it yesterday in a live address to Albertans. What is the government’s stance on Western separation, and how do you address this issue with all of the emotion in it?

I thought Premier Smith had some very wise words in her address yesterday. And I think it’s incumbent for us to look at where these divisions (are) coming from, and they’re coming from a decade of unconsulted policies being enacted, one size fits all across across the nation. You’ve seen in Saskatchewan a government that has really resisted and fought those policies every step of the way. And this is going to be very, very political, and it already is political today, because we’ve seen an NDP government that supported the Liberal government. The last four years, the Liberal minority government didn’t have a majority, and Canadians didn’t give them a majority, but the NDP gave the majority, gave them that majority on every issue every day, and there in lies the frustration that we’re seeing in our communities, not only in Saskatchewan but in many areas across Canada, really, from Toronto down into the lower mainland.

In our province, we have 40-year-old legislation – plebiscite and referendum legislation – that will allow people to have… I mentioned earlier, we have a choice every four years for to elect a party that will govern us for the next four years. In between elections Canadians also have a voice, and in Saskatchewan that voice is enacted through signing a petition for a for a plebiscite or a referendum in this province. It’s 40-year-old legislation, and we will follow that legislation if people are interested in having a question put to them in this province, and we will put that question to the people of Saskatchewan, as they have asked. What we’re seeing in our legislature here in the province is the NDP opposition actually want to change that legislation and take away that voice, and so they’ve been not only part of enacting the policies that are causing the frustration, but now when people are at their boiling point, what we’re seeing in the NDP – which is absolutely ridiculous – is they want to change the legislation to remove the voice that people have in between elections, and we just simply don’t think that’s right.

Your points, I think, align with what we heard from Premier Danielle Smith. She says “We’re not putting it on the agenda, but if the people, through the legislation that’s available, get enough signatures to create a referendum vote, then we will honor that.” I think that’s what I just heard you say. Is it as simple as majority rules, and if that’s what the province wants, that’s what they get? Or do you have a role as leader, as premier, to help people understand consequences that might come with these decisions?

We do have a role and there is a clarity act, federally, that would govern. You know what that question might look like and what the results might entail, but you’re right – the provincial government also has a role. In 1995, I believe it was, Quebec underwent a referendum. They’ve only done it twice in their existence, despite all of the talk of separation, and they elect separatist people at the provincial level and MPs at the at the federal level, and they have for decades now. But in 1995 I was looking and reading back to some of the environment in that particular time, and there’s literally hundreds of companies that were moving their head offices out of Quebec, and companies that were looking at investing in Quebec that that didn’t because of the uncertainty that that separation referendum had, and if we remember, that was very, very close. It was within a percent of actually being successful or having a majority vote. And so it was a very tenuous time in Quebec due to some of the divisions between Quebec and the national government and the rest of Canada. And so there are consequences to having that discussion. There are consequences to getting too far into that process. And when you look at what Saskatchewan does, we’re attracting global investment from from all around the world.

And so there’s an example of some of the things – and I’ll do this tomorrow, I think, when I have about three hours of Premier’s estimates, talk about some of the historical examples of what has happened when provinces have looked seriously at or actually gone through with or conducted a referendum in their space. We believe we’ve been very clear. Despite the frustrations that we have with the policies from the federal government the last number of years, we believe there is a path forward for Saskatchewan within to be a contributing member of the confederation and of the nation of Canada. However, in saying that, there needs to be a significant policy shift from the prime minister and the new Liberal government. All indications are that they’re willing to have that discussion, but it is going to have to be followed up with action, and in the not too distant future.

We are out of time, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask the question that I know you’ve been asked before: If there was a referendum vote, how would you vote?

I am not even going to think about that, as that is a long ways off. What I believe is that there is a place for Saskatchewan to continue to be a very significant contributing member of Canada. So at this point in time, I very much am in support of Saskatchewan being part of the federation, and that would steer my vote. However, the frustrations are real and the federal government, I think, needs to address those frustrations, and it’s my job as the premier of this province to very much formulate what that positive relationship looks like moving forward, and that’s what I’ve attempted to do in our first call with the new prime minister, and I’ll continue to do that with him. And there may be a challenge with the cabinet, as it is many of the same faces around the table, so the prime minister will have to be strong in his words on changing course.