Fougere talks western representation, oil and gas with PM

Regina’s mayor spent a phone call Tuesday morning trying to put a Western Canadian bug in the prime minister’s ear.

Justin Trudeau has been calling mayors in Saskatchewan and Alberta, trying to gather their perspectives after the drubbing the Liberals took in the two provinces in last week’s election. No Liberal Party candidates were elected in either province.

Mayor Michael Fougere said he spoke to the prime minister about the lack of representation, saying it’s clearly a problem.

“I think he needs to have someone in cabinet who represents Saskatchewan in some way, whether it be a senator or some other way to do that, but he needs to make that happen,” Fougere said during a media event at City Hall.

Fougere said Ralph Goodale was a good minister and a good MP and he worked hard for Saskatchewan and Regina. Fougere called Goodale — who lost the Regina-Wascana riding to Conservative Michael Kram in the Oct. 21 election — an unfortunate casualty of the discontent in the province.

“So now the prime minister has to step up and find a way to fill that gap and make sure that the voices of Saskatchewan are heard around the table,” Fougere said.

According to Fougere, Trudeau acknowledged the election results show that there were some problems with his policies and approach for people in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Fougere said he also brought up concerns he has and that he has been hearing from people that he thinks have either been ignored or underperformed on by the federal government, and that have affected the economy.

Those concerns include the downturn in the oil and gas sector, that there has been no real federal strategy to help mitigate that, and the difference in approach and ideals on climate change between the federal and provincial governments.

Fougere said there needs to be a meeting of the minds to figure out a way to meet both federal and provincial goals.

Fougere said the prime minister didn’t say a lot about his concerns, just saying that there is a transition happening away from oil and gas into a new economy.

But Fougere said he finds that hard to accept in an economy that’s so rooted in oil and gas. He noted that a transition will take a long time so, in the meantime, the province still needs to have a strong market for our products.

Fougere said he also encouraged Trudeau to have similar conversations with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and his Alberta counterpart, Jason Kenney.

Trudeau also spoke with Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark on Tuesday.