REGINA — With another week at the legislature set to begin, the opposition New Democrats are again turning their focus to the issue of western separation.
Opposition critic for Economy and Jobs Aleana Young held a news conference Monday at the Legislature, in which she roasted Premier Scott Moe over a petition that has circulated online from Unified Grassroots.
“The petition calls for a referendum to empower the provincial government to negotiate new terms for Saskatchewan's relationship, whether as a part of Canada or as an independent nation,” Young said.
“Unified Grassroots has had a direct line to Premier Moe in the past. In 2021, Moe spoke with its leader, Nadine Ness, for a full hour, a clear sign of their influence over the Sask Party's political agenda. As of late Sunday, her group's petition had nearly 2,000 signatures online.”
Young portrayed Moe as not only leaving the door open to separatism, but said “his own friends and insiders (are) actively working to break our country. All of this plays directly into the hands of one Donald Trump.”
Young claimed Moe “wouldn't even take a stand for his own country,” and called it a "complete failure of leadership at a time when we need to be uniting Canada and building infrastructure coast to coast in order to protect jobs, grow our economy, and secure our future.”
Young’s remarks come in advance of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith preparing to give a province-wide address there at 3 p.m. expected to address a “bold course for a strong and free Alberta” according to her post on the X platform.
“Yeah, quite frankly, I'm nervous,” Young said.
“Premier Moe has been asked directly, twice, what his views are on this. And he refused to say. And we've seen the people who have direct influence over this Premier and his leadership. It's Danielle Smith, it's Nadine Ness, it's the Buffalo Party, it's the Saskatchewan United Party. I'm worried for what this will do to Saskatchewan. I'm worried for what this could potentially do for our country and, fundamentally, what this does for our economy.”
Young said she had three calls for Premier Moe that day.
“One, condemn Danielle Smith. Two, condemn Unified Grassroots. And three, be straight with the people of Saskatchewan and say, out loud, clearly, and unequivocally, that you would vote to stay as part of Canada.”
Last week, Young had brought a motion during the 75-minute debate that “the Assembly opposes Donald Trump’s threats to make Canada the 51st state, and also opposes the threats of western separation supported by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and others.”
But the 75 minutes ran out without her motion being adopted. Young said she “did not hear a clear, unequivocal answer from Premier Moe or the Sask Party members” that separating from Canada was not on.
“Frankly, 75 minutes of missed opportunity for them,” said Young, who vented further frustrations about what she was seeing.
“This should be really simple. This should not be the second day that I have been standing behind this podium in this hallway talking about it. This is a Premier who cannot get the simple things right when it comes to where this province needs to go, when it comes to defending this country. We saw him be super soft on Donald Trump, calling for a Team North America approach at a time when the President to the south was openly musing about annexing Canada. I don't know why this is so hard for him. I suspect it is because these are the people who have his ear, these are the people who he is focused on appeasing.”
When the House sitting resumed in the afternoon, both Young and Opposition Deputy Leader Vicki Mowat grilled the government about a potential referendum to leave Canada. Instead of hearing from Premier Moe, it was Deputy Premier Jim Reiter who responded several times to their questions.
"The Premier made it very clear last week. We're not interested in separation," Reiter said. "We're also not interested in the status quo."
"...We're looking forward to a path forward within a strong and united Canada, Mr Speaker. In fact one of the founding principles of the Saskatchewan Party speaks to exactly that. It speaks about a growing Saskatchewan in a strong and growing Canada."
Reiter later added the government "represent all citizens in Saskatchewan, Mr Speaker, in a country that values free speech, Mr. Speaker. We aren't about to silence people that we don't agree with, Mr. Speaker. The Premier said it very well last week when he said the only discussion about separatism in this House is coming from the NDP Opposition."
