REGINA – Premier Scott Moe has released the contents of a letter he sent to Prime Minister Mark Carney outlining policy priorities he wanted to see from the federal government.
On social media Moe said the following:
“I have written to PM @MarkJCarney outlining our “Strong Saskatchewan, Strong Canada Plan” – 10 key policy changes the federal government must make to reset Ottawa’s relationship with Saskatchewan.
“The PM has the ability to move forward on all 10 of these items quickly, which would clearly signal a new, more positive relationship between Saskatchewan and the federal government than we have had for the past 10 years.
“A stronger Saskatchewan means a stronger Canada, and all of these changes will be positive for both our province and our country.”
According to the letter dated May 13, Moe thanked Carney for their discussion on May 1, calling it the “first step towards resetting the relationship between Saskatchewan and the federal government”.
He then outlined the ten priorities and they are as follows:
Immediately begin negotiations with China to remove Chinese tariffs on Canadian Agri-food products;
Strengthen the Criminal Code through bail reform and the introduction of stronger penalties to fight against new street drugs;
Stop attempting to collect the federal carbon tax on home, heating from Saskatchewan to be in line with recent full removal of the consumer carbon tax;
Transfer responsibility for the output-based pricing systems for heavy metals to the provinces to ensure measures consider each province’s unique industrial structure, economic realities, and trade exposure;
Repeal the unachievable and unaffordable Clean Electricity regulations, and extend the life of coal power plants to provide affordable and reliable base-load power to Saskatchewan residents;
Repeal the Oil and Gas Emissions Cap to create investment certainty and secure the supply of Canadian energy products, some of the most sustainable in the world;
Build trade and economic corridors across the country and remove legislation that impacts the movement of western Canadian goods, to effectively and efficiently get our goods to domestic and national markets;
Restore the investment climate and streamlining federal approval process to allow major projects to proceed;
Expand pipeline capacity to protect the collective energy security for our nation, which will open up rail and port capacity for other exportable commodities;
Fundamentally reform the Impact Assessment Act, cutting red tape and streamlining the process to avoid duplication and infringement interprovincial jurisdiction.
Moe ended his letter by saying he would “welcome the opportunity to meet in person as soon as you are able to further this work.”
The letter to Prime Minister Carney comes immediately after the swearing in of the new federal cabinet. Moe’s letter was made public with just one day left in the spring sitting of the Legislature, with the session set to wrap up May 15.
Moe is also set to welcome Carney and the other First Ministers for a meeting to be held in Saskatoon June 2.
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