REGINA, Sask. – Opposition Leader Carla Beck is welcoming Premier Scott Moe’s stance on potash after President Donald Trump said on social media that he would do a deal with Belarus.
“I will say that the Premier's comments on this have been as firm and strong as I've seen and that's what we've been calling for all along,” said Beck of Moe’s remarks on social media. “It's time to take a strong stance and continue while we make our views clear with the United States to do the work of diversifying trade markets, building infrastructure and ensuring that we are not caught in the situation that we were caught in when all of this started with Donald Trump.”
In his post on social media Monday, Premier Moe stated that “buying blood potash from Belarus is supporting Russian aggression. It’s wrong and it doesn’t make sense…
"Does anyone believe Belarusian blood potash shipped through Russia is going to be more affordable, more sustainable or more ethical than potash shipped from Saskatchewan – right here in North America?"
Beck made clear in her interview with SaskToday at the Legislature that she thought there should have been more of this kind of approach from the premier.
“We've been pretty clear about that, that the path that the premier has been taking up until now, suggesting that closer relations or utilizing friendships with Americans, which do exist, is enough. It simply hasn't worked.”
Beck said that “firmness, that clearness, that resolve is what we all need to show in this country right now. We are in difficult times. We've already seen the impact in places like Big River, for example, where we've seen job losses. We've seen impact to our steel industry here. We need to continue to be firm and strong while we busily diversify trade markets and build that trade infrastructure. The only way that we're going to get through this is together. You don't hear me say this often, but I thought that that was an important statement that the Premier made, and we need to see more of that strong firmness.”
But she also felt other measures still were needed, including taking U.S. alcohol off the shelves.
“Strong words, strong positions are important,” Beck said. “Actions are important, too, and that removing the alcohol from the shelves would be an important action.
Obviously, it has gotten the attention of the Americans. It is providing pressure in important states ahead of the November elections in the United States.”
Beck said her party “would reiterate our call to, now that the premier has found his voice and found his feet with these stern words, let's back that up with action, including the removal of the US liquor from store shelves.”
Beck also called for a stronger stance on procurement, even though the Saskatchewan government has pointed to 94 per cent of procurement going to Saskatchewan bidders. But Beck feels even a small percentage of American bidders is too much.
Beck called it a “matter of principle at this point. When you have your largest trading partner who's willing to go after your economy and even threaten your sovereignty, I think it's a time for principled stances. Procuring within Canada, not procuring government contracts from the U.S., I think is one of those principled stances.”
As for her criticism of the lobbying efforts by the Saskatchewan government of American officials, including most recently at the Midwest Legislative Conference in Minnesota,
When asked if those type of lobbying efforts are enough, Beck responded there “was a time when I may have had more confidence that that could be effective, taking the message directly to officials at the state level, speaking directly to American people.”
“I think as things have gone on over the last couple of years, the predictability, the ability to assume what Donald Trump is going to do on any given day or with any given tweet or true social post, I think has waned. We are dealing with an extremely erratic president of the United States right now. I think if I had the answer key as to how to sway him or persuade him, I would be a very popular person right now.”
Beck said this was really a “matter of controlling what we can control here in Saskatchewan and in the country, certainly trying to leverage those relationships, continue to have conversations… I think we continue with those messages, but in terms of predicting what Donald Trump is going to do, I'm afraid I'd have better luck at one of those chicken plop boards at a country fair. I simply don't know what he's going to do next.”
As for controlling what can be controlled, Beck pointed to some “very concrete pieces that we've been calling for from the very start, particularly in Saskatchewan.”
“We do have what the world needs. We are incredibly lucky to have the resources that we have here in this province.”
Beck pointed to building trade-enabling infrastructure and putting “not only Canadian workers, but our Canadian steel to use and building up our capacity to move trade.” She also pointed to the need to build up the labour force in Saskatchewan and across the country to “be able to take advantage of the opportunity that the future economy will afford to people in this province.”
As for government procurement, Beck called for “making sure that those contracts benefit Saskatchewan companies that are hurting in many cases right now. That's something we've been calling for, for a long time. There are a lot of things that are out of our control, but there is a lot that's within our control right now and we should be taking full advantage of that.”
