“There’s many people in this province that are feeling alienated by their federal government and not feeling (like) a respected member of the nation of Canada.”
Asked bluntly, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said “no” he does not support Western separatism.
Speaking Monday at the Saskatchewan legislature, Moe said members of his government are “proud as Canadians and believe in a united Canada.”
However, he explained that almost a decade of Liberal government policies has led to alienation in the west and lingering feelings of unease directed east.
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“There’s many people in this province that are feeling alienated by their federal government and not feeling (like) a respected member of the nation of Canada,” said Moe.
The question of Western separation reared its head after Reform Party founder Preston Manning — leader of the federal Opposition from 1997 to 2000 — wrote a recent newspaper op-ed in which he claimed the Liberal Party and its leader Mark Carney will fuel Western separatism and threaten “national unity.”
Moe said he doesn’t agree.
At the same time, he’ll be speaking this week at a conference in Ottawa hosted by the Canada Strong and Free Network (CSFN), which was known until 2020 as the Manning Centre for Building Democracy.
During question period on Monday, NDP Leader Carla Beck asked Moe to “condemn those stoking the flames of separatism.”
In response, the premier said Beck asks him every week to stand up and “condemn this individual, condemn this, condemn this,” he said. Moe went on to say “those are nothing but words” while “it’s policies that actually matter.”
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“That didn’t sound like a no,” Beck replied.
Outside of question period, the Opposition leader said she “lobbed the premier an underhand pitch” with her questions on Western separation.
“This is a time for Canadians to be united, and this crap just plays right into Donald Trump’s hands,” said Beck.
As for whether this was anything more than part of a federal election cycle, she said the times call for an unequivocal position on Canadian unity.
Beck added that she thinks “it is significant” to have a former leader like Manning or current Alberta Premier Danielle Smith “not only commenting on but stoking the fires of separatism.”
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