REGINA - Premier Scott Moe again expressed disappointment Monday afternoon that his office was not given the heads-up that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would be touring a rare earth elements plant in Saskatoon.
Moe called it “a missed opportunity” for the two levels of government to meet and discuss what was happening with rare earth elements. But in speaking to reporters at the legislature Monday afternoon, Moe also expressed hope that they might have that conversation in the near future.
“It’s disappointing when the Prime Minister is coming to engage on the topic of rare earths elements processing in Saskatchewan … that we weren’t invited or made aware so we could sit down and have those discussions.”
The indication from the Premier is he first learned about the Trudeau visit from the media. Trudeau had met with workers at the Saskatoon facility of Vital Metals, Canada’s first rare earths producer, in an event Monday morning which was also attended by Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark. Premier Moe's office issued a statement Monday morning, indicating Moe had not been made aware of Trudeau’s visit.
Moe said he personally hadn’t reached out to the Prime Minister, but his office had and there was an apology from the PMO for not informing them of the the visit.
“It’s disappointing, because this is one of the points where the province of Saskatchewan and the federal government most certainly do see eye to eye,” Moe told reporters at the legislature.
He said the province had been advancing the processing capacity in Saskatoon for rare earth elements through the Saskatchewan Research Council.
Moe said about six percent of global supply would be coming out of that plant, but he also pointed out that the province was looking at making decisions on advancing into phase two of that facility.
“Which, again, would be another probably couple of hundred million dollars that would be under consideration,” said Moe. “We would ask that the federal government be a partner in that to provide energy security not just today with our oil and gas and uranium in this province, but provide energy security into the future by providing Canadians and North Americans with the rare earth elements they are going to need.”
Moe also pointed out the facility in Saskatoon produces no effluent. As well, “we’re looking at a net-zero option for that facility,” said Moe.
When Trudeau was asked in a media scrum in Saskatoon about the province not being extended an invite, Trudeau had responded that Saskatchewan was an important partner on many issues but “at the same time, we also know there is work to be done in encouraging the government of Saskatchewan to see the opportunities that companies and indeed workers are seeing in cleaner jobs, in the opportunities for cleaner energy projects.”
When asked about that comment by Trudeau, Moe said it was “a disingenuous statement, quite frankly, and also an uneducated statement, quite frankly."
Moe said the province was putting together their plan to replace some capacity so there was a much lower carbon electrical grid. Moe also noted the rare earth facility was unlike any of its kind, again noting it produced no effluent and that there were net-zero opportunities.
The controversy has revived criticisms that Moe and Trudeau were more interested in fostering divisions. On Monday, Opposition leader Carla Beck took Premier Moe to task for his focus on Trudeau instead of promoting rare earth elements.
“What we saw today was the Premier, instead of seeing this as an opportunity to showcase investment and showcase innovation and opportunity in Saskatchewan, took this opportunity to make this about himself," said Beck on a Zoom call. "This is a Premier who before Christmas talked about resetting his relationship with the federal government. You know, and it's not very far into January and we're seeing the Premier fall back into this pattern of yelling from Twitter instead of getting to the table and showcasing what today should have been - a very good news story about the opportunity, minerals and innovation in Saskatchewan. And I think that's really, really disappointing that he chose to make this about himself."
Moe told reporters he didn't think he had a bad relationship with the federal government. "Not to my knowledge, no," he said. He also emphasized he didn't feel a personal slight.
"This isn’t about personalities, this is about making the best interests, in the Prime MInister’s case, in the interests of all Canadians and in my case, in the interests first and foremost of the people who live in this Province,” said Moe.
During his media scrum, when the Premier was asked about the provincial government’s relationship with the federal government, Moe emphasized several areas of agreement.
Moe acknowledged there were “numerous policy points where we do not agree with the federal government, we let that be known,” but he emphasized that there were also “numerous opportunities where we have an opportunity to work together with the federal government." He pointed to the safe restart during COVID-19 as one, as well as on the Canada Health Transfer where the provinces had called on the federal government to come to the table for talks. Moe said they will “get to a meeting at some point” on that latter topic.
“We’ll work with the federal government where we can, it’s disappointing today wasn’t one of those days."
