Moe calls out Trudeau to ‘prove’ support, downplays separation

A day after Saskatchewan voters didn’t send any Liberal candidates to Ottawa in the 43rd general election, Premier Scott Moe came out with fiery rhetoric calling on Justin Trudeau to “prove it” that he wants to support Saskatchewan and Alberta.

“If (he’s) truly supportive of the people in this province, he will reach out and talk to us about a new deal with Canada,” Moe said Tuesday during a scrum at the Legislative Building.

That proposed new deal includes cancelling the carbon tax, restructuring the equalization formula and its payments and building oil pipelines to get the product to market.

The Conservatives won all 14 Saskatchewan ridings (including that of longtime Liberal MP Ralph Goodale) and 33 of 34 Alberta ridings; no Liberal candidates won in the wild rose province.

“There is frustration here in the prairie provinces (and) there is a fire burning here in the prairie provinces,” Moe said.

“What I am doing with handing the prime minister this letter, this opportunity, is handing him a fire extinguisher. And I’m asking him not to show up with a gas can.”

Late Monday, after the Liberals had been declared victors, Trudeau noted the results in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

“To Canadians in Alberta and Saskatchewan, know that you are an essential part of our great country,” he said in his victory speech. “I’ve heard your frustration and I want to be there to support you. Let us all work hard to bring our country together.”

A day later, Moe insisted that “in no way is my tone divisive. Everything that I have said is reactive to federal policy.”

Yet the premier didn’t hold back in highlighting the divisions he sees across the country, especially in Western Canada.

“We are at a very divisive point in this nation,” Moe said. “We are at a crossroads in this nation, if you will.”

As for Moe’s position on Western Canada separating from the federal government and the rest of the country, he said: “I am a frustrated federalist. I believe in the nation of Canada.

“But most certainly the policies that have taken place and the direction we have taken over the course of the last four years, I think, speaks to many in this province … This is not working for Saskatchewan.”

He put the “onus on the prime minister to speak to those areas of the nation” that didn’t vote Liberal.

“He needs to speak to all of us of how he is going to unify this nation,” Moe said.

Talk of western separation, or Wexit as it’s sometimes called, is increasing.

The VoteWexit Facebook page has more than 142,000 members. Its motto is “The West Wants Out.”

An online petition calling for a western alliance and Alberta to separate has been backed by almost 26,000 people.

Grant Fagerheim, CEO of the oil company Whitecap Resources Inc., said contributions by Alberta and Saskatchewan to the Canadian economy have not been respected.

He said he’s not surprised that there’s talk of western separation, but whether that amounts to anything is another matter.

“I don’t believe at this particular time, whether you live in Saskatchewan or Alberta, that people would say they’re Canadian first at this time,” Fagerheim said.

As for what he’ll do if Trudeau rejects his demands, the premier left little clarity.

“I’m not going to answer to what happens if he doesn’t accept this. I’m asking him to accept it,” Moe said. “(Trudeau) had said (Monday) night that he truly is here to support the people of Saskatchewan and Alberta. Prove it.”

After last night's federal election, it is clear we need a New Deal with Canada. Read my statement here: pic.twitter.com/DsemIHN3qR

— Scott Moe (@PremierScottMoe) October 22, 2019

Saskatchewan NDP responds to Moe

NDP Leader Ryan Meili used Moe’s letter to Trudeau to attack the premier and his approach.

“A leader should be working to address the problems that we face as a province but do so in a way that unites us, that brings people together, not pointing fingers elsewhere, not trying to distract and divide,” Meili said in Saskatoon.

Meili said if he becomes premier, he won’t take the same tack as Moe. Instead, Meili said he would stand up for Saskatchewan’s interests while talking with the federal government, but he wouldn’t “do anything to harm the unity of Canada.”

“What we saw today (from Moe) was not leadership to solve those challenges,” Meili said. “What we saw instead was a premier who was willing to stoke divisions and stoke even sentiments of western separatism.”

— With files from the Canadian Press