REGINA - With Unified Grassroots set to hold the first of several town hall events this weekend, the NDP have again come out swinging against both that organization and Premier Scott Moe.
At a news conference Friday, the NDP's critic for Economy and Jobs Aleana Young blasted the town halls, which begin with an event in Saskatoon this Sunday, May 25 at Prairieland Park. Town halls are planned for 15 communities throughout the province.
Young pointed to radio interview comments by Nadine Ness, organizer behind Unified Grassroots, who said her organization was “gathering everyone who is not happy with the way things are... it can be from full-on separation. It can be from joining the 51st state. It can be just from supporting Scott Moe as he takes a strong stance against Ottawa.”
“This kind of rhetoric is dangerous. It's delusional and completely out of step with the values of most people in Saskatchewan. And worst of all, it plays right into Donald Trump's hands,” said Young.
Young also repeated attacks on Premier Moe, saying the NDP has called on him “numerous times to show some leadership and clearly and publicly denounce Unified Grassroots.”
“I sincerely hope that Unified Grassroots' call to become the 51st state is finally a step too far for Premier Moe. So that's why we're calling on the Premier to reconsider his position and condemn this agenda from Unified Grassroots. Silence is complicity, and sure as hell scaring the job creators looking to invest here is a bad call from Saskatchewan.”
Young's news conference is just the latest in a sustained effort by the NDP to denounce Premier Moe's handling of the Western separatism issue, pointing to the prospect that a referendum could damage Saskatchewan's economy. By contrast, the government has dismissed the criticism, saying most of the talk about separation has come from the Opposition.
The NDP efforts have included a private member's bill by leader Carla Beck to raise the petition threshold to trigger a separation referendum from 15 to 30 per cent, but that effort stalled with the conclusion of the legislative session last week.
The NDP have also repeatedly tried to link Unified Grassroots to Sask Party MLAs. One of those who faced accusations, newly-elected Yorkton MLA David Chan, told Sask Today recently that he has no past or present membership with Unified Grassroots and is not affiliated with them.
Young repeated her allegations of Unified Grassroots ties to the Sask Party on Friday, accusing Moe of a lack of leadership on the issue.
“The problem is the Premier's unwillingness to lead. And the tone starts at the top. Any talk of separation is incredibly dangerous for our economy and it's divisive for this province. The Premier has had multiple opportunities to be clear on this, to tell people where he stands, especially with a group that has well-documented ties to his party and his political organization. I think it's incumbent on him to say clearly that he does not support this work that they're doing.”
The NDP also pointed to a Facebook video in which Ness claimed 7,000 people have signed up on their website in favour of separation.
“7,000 signatures in a couple weeks is not insignificant,” said Young. “I get it's not 300,000, but it's the summer. Again, there's going to be people out working to organize. This is a group who, again, has talked about organizing for the Sask Party Convention. This is a group who has organized for nominations. This is a group who has organized for election campaigns. I think if we take any of these things lightly, it's at our own peril.”
Young added that Premier Moe was “more focused on keeping his own tent together than keeping the province strong and keeping the country together.”
Sask Party response
In a statement, the Sask Party government had this response to the NDP's latest news conference:
"The NDP have done more to promote western separatism than anyone else. The NDP spoke about separation more than 130 times during the spring session and are now holding their seventh press conference.
"While the NDP are focused on condemning and silencing Saskatchewan residents, the Government of Saskatchewan is committed to ensuring that this province and the people that live here are part of a strong, united, growing and prosperous Canada. That is why we are focused on working with the new federal government on the priorities that matter to Saskatchewan residents, including the removal of Chinese tariffs on agricultural products, building economic corridors, expanding pipeline capacity, streamlining federal approval processes, and removing the Clean Electricity regs, the Oil and Gas Emissions Cap and the Impact Assessment Act."
At an end-of-session news conference last week, Premier Moe was posed questions about the separatism issue and denied he was being unclear about his stance on it.
"I don't think it is unclear with respect to our position. I believe there are some that are attempting to make it unclear in the Opposition ranks and such, and we hear that discussion each and every day in this place," said Moe.
"I truly believe there is an opportunity for Saskatchewan to grow and prosper within a united Canada. It's a very fabric of the party that I lead, and I think it's very much at the core of what, if not the majority, virtually all of Saskatchewan people believe as well... We truly do want to move forward in, yes, altering some of the policies that come from the federal government, but we will work on them with those policies as well to make them workable, so that we have that attractive investment environment and can continue to grow and prosper in Saskatchewan within the nation of Canada. I don't know how much more clear I can be on that, on our position with respect to what the future lies for Saskatchewan."
