REGINA - Opposition Leader Carla Beck is not giving up the effort to try and prevent tariffs from being imposed on Canada by President-elect Donald Trump.
“I'm not willing to concede that the tariffs are inevitable at this point,” said Beck, speaking to reporters at a Monday morning news conference at the Saskatchewan Legislature.
Beck was referring to news reports coming from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, as Trump continues to threaten imposing 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian exports to the USA.
Afterwards, Smith was quoted as saying she thinks tariffs are coming. For her part, Beck still felt a case could be made against it.
“I think that there continues to be very strong argument to be made not only when it comes to the impact here in Saskatchewan, but the impact of consumers on the other side of the border to Americans,” Beck said. “When we look at what we're exporting out of Saskatchewan, potash, oil and gas, looking at uranium, a 25 per cent tariff not only causes harm here in this province and in Canada, which it does to be clear, this is going to cause huge increases when it comes to consumers in the U.S. When you look at things like the cost of housing, the cost of energy, the cost of food and to put a crop in the ground in the U.S. I refuse to believe that this is inevitable at this point.”
Beck repeated her call for “a united front, a strong front when it comes to our efforts to turn these threatened tariffs around.”
“I continue to believe that with an effective response, these tariffs don't have to be inevitable. And that's what we're working towards.”
Response from Moe
As for Premier Scott Moe, on Monday he sent out a post on the X platform regarding the tariffs issue. In that post and in a TV interview, Moe again called for an immediate election.
“We need someone with a mandate to work with the incoming Trump administration to ensure these tariffs are not put in place as they will have negative impacts on both sides of the border. I reiterate my call for an immediate election, so Canadians can provide that mandate.”
At her news conference, Beck was asked whether Premier Moe had responded to her correspondence to him in which she pledged her cooperation in responding to the tariff threat,
“I understand, and I've since heard back from the Premier, that many of those meetings have been happening, as they have on our side, meeting with industry, with interests on both sides of the border. I would encourage him to continue to work with all of the resources, with all of the contacts that he has,” Beck said. “Again, this is bigger than any political party.”
Beck was also asked if she herself would go to the USA for meetings or to possibly even attend Trump’s inauguration. The NDP leader was ruling nothing out.
“I think we're exploring all options at this point,” said Beck . “Again, this is about using all of the resources that we have, all of the connections that we have, to see a favorable outcome... This is bigger than any short-term political partisan interest. This needs to be an all-hands-on-deck approach, and we need to be effective. I haven't ruled anything out at this point.”
