REGINA, Sask. — Ottawa is throwing cold water on a quick end to the cross-border trade war as Washington adds Canadian municipal waste to its list of punishing import bans. Here at home, Saskatchewan politicians clash over the rising cost of living while rural municipalities plead for infrastructure funding to weather the economic storm.
Podcasts are available now on GX94, Yorkton, or on 620 CKRM, Regina, hosted by Steven Wilson. Or read the transcript below:
Steven Wilson — Welcome to Trade Dispute: Impact on the Prairies. I'm Steven Wilson.
The prospect of a quick resolution to the cross-border trade war is rapidly fading, despite earlier claims from the White House.
Ottawa actively poured cold water on the negotiations yesterday. While Prime Minister Mark Carney acknowledged talks with the United States had intensified, a Canadian official directly involved in the negotiations leaked to the press there had been limited progress. The stalled talks are dangerously intertwined with American domestic politics.
The United States ambassador to Canada issued a stark warning yesterday, telling reporters that Canada could shoulder the blame if the impending American midterm elections go poorly for President Donald Trump's party. At the same time, Canada is refusing to back down with its fight from American corporate executives. Industry Minister Mélanie Jolie publicly defended her two-week ultimatum to Cleveland-Cliffs regarding the idling of Stelco's Canadian steel operations.
Jolie says the government needs to send a message reaffirming her threat to penalize American executives who cut Canadian jobs during the trade war. The tariff battle is also getting increasingly punitive. Reporting confirms the Trump administration has added Canadian garbage and sewage to its list of 50 per cent tariffs.
The highly unusual addition is designed to financially choke Canadian municipalities that routinely export municipal waste to American landfills. For Canadian businesses, policy experts say the era of waiting for a political fix is officially over. A new public affairs briefing from the Capitol Hill Group advises companies that the trade conflict is no longer a temporary disruption, but a prolonged economic challenge.
The firm warns businesses to prepare for long-term volatility in freight costs, fuel prices, and international shipping, noting that even successful lawsuits will not substitute a negotiated trade agreement.
That macroeconomic pain is about to hit Canadian wallets even harder. Financial markets are bracing for a looming Bank of Canada interest rate hike. The central bank says the move is a direct attempt to combat the domestic inflation fueled by the cross-border trade shocks and fractured supply chains.
With traditional export markets choked, prairie provinces are pivoting inward. The Capitol Hill Group briefing highlights a massive shift in Alberta and Saskatchewan as the provinces move to utilize trapped energy reserves domestically to power high-yield data centres, rather than exporting raw energy into a volatile North American market.
That shift in economic priorities was reflected at the Saskatchewan Legislature yesterday. During the delivery of the speech from the throne, Premier Scott Moe stressed the importance of keeping the provincial economy strong and steady amidst the global turmoil.
Scott Moe — This is a very turbulent time in the world. Trade wars and actual wars are disrupting economies and businesses and jobs and families across this province and across our nation and around the world. But in the midst of all of that, there is a place whose economy stands rock solid.
A place that is still attracting billions of dollars in new private sector investment, including the largest capital project in our nation's history. There is a place that has what the world needs. And it is a reliable, dependable and ethical supplier.
Expanding its export markets to more than 160 countries around the world. There is a place that continues to make significant investment to improve access to health care, to keep our communities safe and to make life more affordable for the residents that live there. That place is our place.
Strong, steady Saskatchewan.
Steven Wilson — However, the opposition fired back, accusing the government of being out of touch with the reality facing working families. NDP Leader Carla Beck says the premier is ignoring the skyrocketing cost of living caused by the economic crisis.
Carla Beck — They tell us, well, you know, it's bad everywhere. As I told people at the leaders' dinner last night, this isn't everywhere. This is Saskatchewan.
And Saskatchewan people deserve so much better. So while this government is going to go out and try to defend this throne speech, you're going to see from our team, you're going to see us continue to put forward legislation at a breakneck pace. Proposals that we think will actually move the dial, actually improve the lives of Saskatchewan people.
Steven Wilson — The economic strain is also being felt at the municipal level. Bill Huber is the president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities. He says local councils are struggling to maintain essential infrastructure as funding fails to keep pace with inflation.
Bill Huber — We have to let our members of Parliament and our Senate members and their colleagues in Ottawa, how important Saskatchewan is to the economy of this country. What we have here in this province is huge compared to some of the other provinces. We're an export province, like I said before.
And I think we have to make sure that our elected representatives that are in the House of Commons and that are involved in government, whether it's an elected capacity or a staff capacity as a chief of staff or a deputy minister, they have to know what we need, what we want. We're the people that live out here. We're the people that work out here. We're the people that grow and produce the commodities that the world needs. So they have to be made aware of that. And wherever there's a shortfall in funding opportunities for infrastructure or transportation requirements, whether it's more rail or trucking capacity, we need them to be aware of what we need.
And we need them to know how important trade is for our people in this province. We've gone through some challenges in the last number of months with tariffs, whether it be China, India or the U.S. Those are things that we have to make sure that are dealt with and that we can give our elected officials in Ottawa some ideas to how important it is to us in this province and our members and the concerns that we need brought to the attention of other elected officials around the world.
Steven Wilson — We will continue to track the political fallout as the American midterms approach next week. Thank you for listening to Trade Dispute: Impact on the Prairies.
Listen weekdays at 9 a.m. on 620 CKRM and GX94 for new installments of Trade Dispute: Impact on the Prairies.
