Affordability and tariffs dominate talk as legislature resumes in Saskatchewan

The Saskatchewan Legislature can be seen in this file photo. (David Prisciak/CTV News)

Day two of an exceptionally short fall sitting of the Saskatchewan legislature has now wrapped. An opposition motion to cut the provincial gas tax was struck down while the government faced criticism on more than half a dozen portfolios.

Shadow Minister of Finance Trent Wotherspoon attempted to bring forward an emergency motion to discuss cutting the tax, which accounts for 15 cents of every litre of gasoline and diesel purchased by Saskatchewan residents.

The nays outnumbered the yays and the motion did not pass – much to the dismay of Opposition Leader Carla Beck.

“This was their choice to vote down even the ability to discuss this emergency motion … Something that we heard time and time again on the doorstep, that people are looking some for some real, tangible relief in a hurry in this province,” she told reporters.

"This is a government that says that they understand the challenges that Saskatchewan people are facing, they understood the need for some changes, but we saw them again do as they've done for the last two years, and that is vote against that relief for Saskatchewan people."

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In defence of the vote, Premier Scott Moe reiterated his party’s array of affordability measures – which made up the majority of the party’s election platform.

"What we are very much focused on today, and through this session, is to deliver on the commitments that we've put before the Saskatchewan people and those are commitments that we were elected on and so we're going to stay focused on that," he explained.

According to Moe, depending on how the proposed legislation is received, some of its affordability measures may be put in place as soon as January.

Tariffs a concern

Both Moe and Beck answered questions related to President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement that the U.S would impose 25 per cent tariffs against all goods from both Canada and Mexico.

Moe says the potential incoming trade dispute is exactly the reason his government has been focused on international outreach.

"Thank goodness that we've been focused on our province to international relationships, not just in the U.S, but in Mexico and many other, many other countries around the world," he explained.

"We're the largest per capita exporting province in the nation of Canada … We have a number of countries now we're exporting in excess of a billion dollars and that's maybe why we're 60 per cent reliant on the U.S for our market access, as opposed to 85 or 95 [per cent] like some other provinces."

"That being said, this is still our most significant trading partner," he added.

Beck echoed Moe’s sentiments – stressing the need for collaboration and communication to deal with any trade barriers that may arise.

"We need longer to need an all-hands-on deck approach to this very real, very significant threat when it comes to these border tariffs, something that we're going to be dealing with in this province and in this country for the next four years," she said.

"This can't be a quick one-time measure. This has to be about getting to the table, working with industry, working with governors in the U.S, working with officials right across the country and across borders to ensure that we don't see this kind of unpredictability."