REGINA - The opposition NDP is calling on Premier Scott Moe to immediately establish a "Team Saskatchewan" task force to take their message on trade to the American people.
NDP Leader Carla Beck noted the urgency of the situation at a media availability Wednesday at the Legislature. She told reporters that the province has less than 30 days to "protect communities, workers and livelihoods here in Saskatchewan."
A 30-day pause of the executive order for 25 percent tariffs to be placed on Canadian exports to the USA was agreed to Monday between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump, with Canada committing to increased border security measures to fight fentanyl.
But Beck said the work was "certainly far from over."
"We need to see all hands on deck to bring forward solutions and ideas to address trade challenges and take our message directly to American people, because no one wins in a trade war."
Beck called for the Team Saskatchewan task force focused on trade and averting a trade war. Beck said the task force should be made up of "leaders in industry, small business, labour, Indigenous enterprise and should specifically include leaders in our three largest export industries -- oil, potash and canola, which make up more than 70 per cent of the $27 billion in Saskatchewan products that we export to the US every single year.
"And I strongly urge that this task force be sent as an official delegation to the United States as quickly as possible. Time is of the essence. The representatives can leverage their own contacts here and south of the border, which is what we've been doing. And we can make it clear to everyone that a trade war will make the lives harder for people on both sides of the border and will drive up the cost of production for everyday goods for both Americans and Canadians alike."
The NDP's jobs critic Aleana Young urged Premier Moe to establish this task force, and "that Carla should be included so that she can bring the incredible volume of feedback that we've been receiving from industry partners on both sides of the border, from labor, from CEOs, leaders, workers and everyone concerned with the impact that this is going to have on workers and wallets here in Saskatchewan."
"Whether it's trade, red tape, infrastructure, we know that similar task forces across Canada and in pretty much every other province in Canada have been established to deal with the ongoing threat that potential tariffs will represent for Saskatchewan and our economy. There's been one established in B.C. and the federal government has struck one as well. And Carla's right, we have less than 30 days, we need an all hands on deck approach. The Saskatchewan NDP is here to help and we're committed to doing everything we can to protect Saskatchewan and our collective future."
As for her own efforts Beck spoke of some of the outreach with stakeholders in the province and elsewhere. But when asked by reporters about who she had met with so far in the US government, Beck responded she had not met with anyone in Washington DC yet.
Premier Moe is due to head to Washington DC next week, and Beck expressed interest in going as well. "We certainly would join him," she said.
"We would be looking at any and all meetings in the U.S. and continue to, as I said, reach out to those connections in the U.S. That is exactly what he needs to be doing, what we all need to be doing, taking that message directly to the American people. Now, again, going back to some of the many meetings that we've had with stakeholders here in the province, they have indicated time and time again the necessity, and I think we've seen some of the fruit of that already, but the necessity of taking the message directly to American people that in a trade war, nobody wins, and in a trade war, it will be not only Canadian consumers and Canadian jobs that will be on the line, there will be American jobs, cost of living increases for Americans as well."
The government provided this response to the Beck news conference today in which they outlined the Premier's plans for next week:
"Premier Scott Moe will be going to Washington D.C. next week as part of the Council of the Federation delegation along with all of the other premiers. Premier Moe will be heading down in advance of the delegation to meet with elected representatives and business leaders to reiterate the message that Saskatchewan supplies the food, fuel, fertilizer and critical minerals that are essential for North American food and energy security and that tariffs will drive up prices for everyone, including Americans."
