SASKATOON — Premier Scott Moe is headed east to Ottawa this week after spending last week in the Far East in China and Japan.
Moe returned home Saturday following his delegation to China on the tariff situation regarding canola and other products. Minister of Trade and Economic Development Warren Kaeding was in South Korea on a trade mission, and then both Moe and Kaeding headed to Japan.
When speaking to reporters at Saskatoon airport Monday, Moe described the tone of the conversations in China as “even more positive than I think I expected, in particular with the work that the Saskatchewan Trade Office specifically has done on the ground for the last number of years in China and in the whole region, South Korea, Japan as well. So it was ... even more positive than I had anticipated."
“Again, I've said this before, there are going to be steps in building this relationship that will ultimately culminate in the Prime Minister and the President coming to some sort of agreement. That's the hope, that's the ambition, and that's what we hope to see before the end of the calendar year,” Moe said.
But Moe's return to Saskatchewan was a short one. Premier Moe now heads to Ottawa, with plans to have discussions in the coming days with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Among the topics he intends to discuss is further regulatory reform to get more projects approved. This comes in the wake of the announcement last week of major projects being fast-tracked by the federal government — an announcement that drew some disappointment from Saskatchewan officials for not being ambitious enough.
Moe did welcome the announcement that the Foran mine project in northeast Saskatchewan was on the list, but made known he wanted even more projects fast-tracked.
Perhaps in response to recent NDP calls for Moe to produce the list of the projects his government had submitted to Ottawa, Moe told reporters that his own “list” for regulatory approval “would be every project that has any federal approval that is required."
“Whether it be a mine site, whether it be a thermal oil investment that's being made, whether it be an ag value-added investment that's being made here in the province. All of those need to be a part of Bill C-5 if they have any federal touch.”
Premier Moe also spoke at length to reporters about the outcome of his recent delegation to China. Moe welcomed the inclusion of Parliamentary Secretary Kody Blois on that trip. He said it was “appreciated and I think it was effective in ensuring that we're taking the steps that are necessary for us to find a path to market access in that country as well.”
Moe said some of the meetings were with the Ministry of Commerce in China, which is “responsible for the seed tariffs that we're experiencing here today, the canola seed tariffs, as well as what's known as GAC, or the administration that is responsible for the oil, meal, the pork, as well as the pulse tariffs."
“And I would say this, there is a real opportunity for us to move forward in engagement with a number of different organizations and government agencies in China to recalibrate the trade relationship that we have, not to look back, but to look forward in that recalibration and to move forward in a pragmatic and constructive way. Take a pragmatic and constructive path forward that is not only good for our concern as the ag community here in Saskatchewan and across Canada, but also good for the importers and for food security in China, as well as Japan and South Korea, where we had a presence here this past week as well.”
Moe’s message was to “engage, engage, engage” with China at every opportunity “whether it be industry to industry, whether it be government to government, sub-national government to the government of China, or whatever that engagement might be,” and then “to look for signals, and look for signals on both sides that we are finding our way to ultimately a conversation between our Prime Minister and the President of China in finding a path forward on market access for some of our products and likely market access for some of their products as well.”
Moe said there were signals already, including the reactivation of the Joint Economic Trade Commission, which had been dormant for six years.
Moe also said the review of the EV mandate in Canada, announced by Prime Minister Carney in recent weeks, is “more broadly a signal that we are open to having a discussion about what is best for us as Canadians, and I think that's important for us to remember in all of these negotiations, whether it be in the United States of America, China, or any other country, is in this new world order when it comes to trade relationships."
As for China's position, Moe said they "have some concerns with respect to us aligning with the United States of America, not so much on China and aluminum, but largely on EV cars."
"Herein lies the balance that we need to find as Canadians and as a Canadian government. I'll be talking with the Prime Minister and Parliamentary Secretary Blois, as well as other ministers, about just this over the next day or day and a half."
When he was asked about his recent comments on EV tariffs, Moe clarified that EV tariffs are on “because we align with the United States of America.”
“So lifting the EV tariffs would most certainly impact the negotiations that we have with the United States of America, which is our largest trading partner in Saskatchewan and across Canada. So herein lies our effort to represent ourselves as a nation in Canada, and we need to do so unapologetically. But we also need to understand that there's a balance to be found between our largest trading partners around the world. And so it's not as simple as lifting EV tariffs. It's not as simple as one solution is going to fix all of the challenges that we have.
“That's why it's so important to engage. And so that's why it's important for Dominic LeBlanc, Minister LeBlanc, to be in Washington as much as possible talking to Secretary (Howard) Ludnick. ... And I'll be urging Prime Minister Carney, and I think he'll be receptive to having two or three ministers on the ground engaging with China to find our way through where we might be able to land on this.“
As for Moe’s message to producers who were worried about the price of canola, Moe said his advice to the farmers is “to continue to do what you do well.”
“Your government in Saskatchewan is working alongside the government of Canada to ensure that in this very unstable trading environment and market access environment that we're doing our level best to fight like hell and represent you in all of the markets of interest that we have, whether that be the United States of America or whether that be in a market like China.”
NDP accuses Moe of returning empty-handed
In response to the Moe trip to China, NDP critic Kim Breckner accused Moe of returning to Saskatchewan with nothing to show for his efforts on canola.
“It took him until our experts to China have basically been cut in half for him to take the initiative. And now nothing to show for it,” said Breckner to reporters in Saskatoon.
“It's too little, too late. And that is simply not good enough for our exceptional canola producers here at home in Saskatchewan…Politics is not a participation sport. You don't get a ribbon just for trying. We need a leader that gets results, that gets these canola tariffs off of our products.”
Breckner also dismissed Premier Moe for saying this had been “the start of conversations.”
“It's a little late for that. We've seen our exports cut nearly in half. It's time to get results.”
When asked to respond to the criticisms about what his China trip was likely to accomplish, Moe reiterated to reporters once again that it was not "going to be any Premier, including myself, standing up with President Xi (Jinping) and saying that we have come to a conclusion with respect to the trade irritants that we have with China. It has to be the Prime Minister."
Moe reiterated that these talks were another step leading towards talks between China and the Prime Minister on canola.
"That's why we're working alongside the federal government in really advancing the engagement that is happening with China. I think that happened this week, and that's what I would say to them. There are steps that were taken this week. If there wasn't a view that this week wasn't going to be helpful, I don't think you would have seen the Prime Minister send his parliamentary secretary to engage, and likely going to be back on the ground alongside federal ministers very soon."
- With files from Jon Perez
