NDP: Shorter spring sitting leaves Sask. unprepared for tariffs

The provincial government has set March 19 as the date for MLAs to return to the legislative assembly — coinciding with the provincial budget release.

The spring sitting will also be about two weeks shorter than normal – ending on May 15, with about seven and a half weeks of sitting time, according to the Sask. NDP.

Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck accused the government of not “responding to the urgency of the moment” when it comes to government accountability and the threat of substantial tariffs from the U.S.

“The government has an opportunity to show the people of this province that they understand the urgency of the issue, that they’re prepared to be accountable on this issue and so many others … the fact that they are willing to do the bare minimum at this time I think is incredibly frustrating for people right across this province,” said Beck.

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The NDP had already been calling for an emergency sitting to give the provincial government a chance to discuss the tariff threat. Now, Beck said the sitting will start even later, and tariffs could already be in place by then.

NDP House leader Nicole Sarauer said not delaying the sitting would ensure the government has the tools to act swiftly if tariffs are imposed.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen in the next few weeks, but we have heard of the possibility of two rounds of tariffs before we sit. If we were in session we’d have the ability to act quickly as a legislature to, perhaps, pass legislation unanimously that could protect industry, could protect businesses, and perhaps provide relief measures to Saskatchewan’s people and Saskatchewan’s economy,” explained Sarauer.

She said, with the possible economic crisis the province is facing that a later and shortened sitting is not appropriate for the situation.

Sarauer said the spring sitting will be the fewest possible sitting days, and therefore the fewest possible Question Periods under the rules.

Both Sarauer and Beck said people of the province want to see their MLAs at work, ready to respond if and when tariffs come down from the U.S.

Last week, Premier Scott Moe was part of a delegation of Canada’s premiers to Washington to talk trade, and also spent a couple days discussing trade in Mexico as well.

Spring sitting, budget usually weeks apart

Usually, the spring sitting begins the first week of March, with the budget delivered about three weeks later.

This year will mark only the second time in at least the last 15 years both have happened on the same day. The last time was on Apr. 6, 2021, when the province was still in the thick of the pandemic and its restrictions.

A government spokesperson said it’s most often, but not always, the case that budget day is also the first day of the spring sitting after an election.

However, the only time that’s happened since the 2003 provincial election was in 2021 – the 2020 election was held in the midst of the pandemic on October 26.

Every other year had at least one week between the sitting and budget, including in 2016, when the election was held Apr. 4, the sitting started with a Speech from the Throne May 17, and the budget was delivered June 1.

Premier Scott Moe said this is the “norm”

When asked why government decided to have the spring sitting start the same day the spring budget is released, Moe said it’s the “norm.”

Moe said he’d have to get back to reporters when asked if this has been done before. Moe claims he was informed this has happened a “number of times.”

In response to Carla Beck’s comments, calling the decision the “bare minimum,” Moe said Beck might not be aware of “what the norm is.”

He said the government is meeting with the appropriate people for tariff discussions, like Douglas Burgum, Secretary of the Interior and Chris Write, Secretary of Energy with the Trump administration.

“Those are the people that we need to be meeting with on behalf of Saskatchewan industries, Saskatchewan jobs and Saskatchewan families,” Moe said.

“I will have much time to talk to the leader of the opposition and the various critics that they have. I would suggest that they are not influential in the Trump administration, and we need to take the time that we have now to engage with those that are.”