Moe addresses delegates at 2025 SARM Convention in Saskatoon

Hours after returning to Saskatchewan from another trip to the U.S. — this time to Houston, Texas for a mining and energy conference — Premier Scott Moe addressed the nearly 2,000 delegates at the 2025 Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) convention in Saskatoon, Wednesday.

Moe touched on a number of issues, but concentrated on the recent trade war between Canada and the U.S., the upcoming 100 per cent tariffs that China is set to impose on Canadian canola oil, peas, seafood and pork products on March 20, and reciprocal Canadian tariffs.

Calling the tariff situation “confusing and chaotic,” Moe said the situation isn’t good for the (financial) markets, and it isn’t good for North American families.

“So those are in place today. We’ll see how long they stay in place,” he quipped.

Saying Saskatchewan is committed to working with U.S. counterparts, Moe added that he also wanted to work with the federal government as well.

Moe then touched on the upcoming provincial budget that will be delivered on March 19, hinting at increased health care spending, more health-care worker recruitment, opening additional urgent care centres in cities like Saskatoon, Prince Albert and Moose Jaw, and increasing the number of surgeries.

Education, the importance of Kindergarten to Grade 3 education and community safety — including a provincial commitment to increasing the number of police officers — rounded out the nearly 50-minute long speech.

Speaking with media after his speech, Moe said that while there is concern about the current changing tariff situation with the U.S., he was also worried about the Chinese tariffs.

Calling them a response to the federal government’s 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, Moe said “No one is buying them,” and insisted that the federal government needed to take the initiative to speak with China because of the impact the tariffs would have on the province’s canola industry.

“It is essentially shutting down jobs and opportunity for Saskatchewan canola crush facilities and the people that work in them, but ultimately shutting down the opportunity for Saskatchewan agriculture producers to grow the most profitable crop that we have had access to growing… over the last number of decades,” he said.

Moe said Saskatchewan needed to “push” the federal government to reach out to their Chinese counterparts on behalf of canola farmers, seafood producers in Atlantic Canada, and pork exporters from Manitoba, although they wouldn’t be hit as hard as Saskatchewan.

Combined with U.S. tariffs already in place, and others expected in the coming weeks, farmers and producers will suffer, said the Premier.

“It will decimate the canola industry in Saskatchewan immediately in a matter of weeks, not months.”

Carla Bech speaks with reporters at the 2025 SARM convention in Saskatoon (Lara Fominoff/650 CKOM)

Provincial NDP Leader Carla Beck said a lot of the same concerns like healthcare and education spending were issues before the threat of tariffs.

“We need to see action on healthcare, and ensuring that people can get access to the healthcare they need,” she said.

She said signing another $10-a-day childcare agreement with the federal government should also be a priority for the province.

Beck added while the changing tariffs situation did not make putting a provincial budget together easy, there should be some kind of supports in place for the industries in Saskatchewan most impacted by the tariffs.