REGINA — As Premier Scott Moe and provincial ministers were meeting with the federal government in Saskatoon on the canola tariffs issue, Opposition Leader Carla Beck was asking why Moe had taken so long to act.
At a news conference at the Legislature, Beck accused Moe of having “taken his sweet time in responding to these Chinese tariffs.”
Beck acknowledged that Moe had “just now committed to embarking on a trade mission to China.” But she noted this was “something that the Saskatchewan NDP has been calling for repeatedly.”
Beck also again accused the Saskatchewan trade office of going unused.
“Again, we've repeatedly called on the Premier to make Saskatchewan's case directly to Chinese officials, to put that trade office to work, and to fight for Saskatchewan producers. I know that I am not the only one asking this. What has taken him so long? And delaying this mission — failing to act — has already had devastating impact on producers here in this province.”
Beck said that “while that trade office went unused” by the government, Statistics Canada data showed Saskatchewan merchandise exports to China decreased by 25.6 per cent during the first six months of this year and more than 51 per cent year over year.
Beck also blasted Moe for suggesting it “will likely be many weeks before we see this trade mission embarked on.” While she said she was glad Moe has “u-turned on this issue,” she nevertheless called it “a weak response from our Premier. One that's unacceptable.”
“The fact is that these tariffs have been rolling down the track for months now. And somehow, our Premier is only moving on this issue now.”
Beck reiterated her call for the federal government to scrap its EV tariff “if that is what it's going to take to get this massively disproportionate attack on Saskatchewan producers lifted.” She said this was something she raised with federal officials.
When asked about recent provincial messaging that blamed the federal government for inaction on canola tariffs, Beck was unimpressed.
“People are so tired of levels of government pointing fingers at each other,” said Beck.
“They both have a role to play. They both had a role to play six months ago. They both have a role to play today. I think people are beyond the finger pointing… A third of the seeded acres in this province right now are seeded to canola. This is a huge crop for people in this province, for producers in this province. This is not a time for pointing fingers. This is a time to show those producers that the leaders have their backs, and they're going to fight for them, they're going to do everything that they can to get these tariffs removed.”
Meanwhile, talks continued in Saskatoon involving Moe, Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Daryl Harrison, and Trade and Export Development Minister Warren Kaeding, along with federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald (attending virtually), Parliamentary Secretary to the PM Kody Blois, and canola stakeholders and exporters.
At a news conference following the meetings Moe was asked about the accusations that the China trade office had not been utilized.
"The China trade office that they would close in their most recent campaign?" said Moe, pointing out cutting back investment in the trade office had been a campaign commitment by the NDP during the provincial election.
Moe said the NDP "really have no stead or in no real honest fashion can comment on whether it be international trade missions or whether it be the use of international trade offices when this is precisely an area that they had committed to cut should they ever form government. Yeah, it's disappointing, but not unexpected."
With files from Jon Perez
