Saskatchewan premier to meet with deputy prime minister next week

REGINA — After a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier this month that Scott Moe called "disappointing," the Saskatchewan premier's office says Moe will now meet with Trudeau's deputy prime minister.

Moe's spokesman Jim Billington confirmed in an email that Chrystia Freeland, who Trudeau named his intergovernmental affairs minister as well as deputy prime minister on Wednesday, will meet with Moe in Regina on Tuesday afternoon.

Moe went into a meeting with Trudeau in Ottawa on Nov. 12 with demands for Trudeau to pause the federal carbon tax in Saskatchewan and change the equalization formula, but he scowled after he left, saying there were no signs the two could find anything to agree on.

After Freeland's cabinet appointments were announced, Moe commented that he hoped it signified the importance to Trudeau of having relationships with premiers.

Freeland, who was born in Alberta, and Manitoba MP Jim Carr have been tasked with representing the West after the Liberals lost all their seats in Saskatchewan and Alberta in October, and dropped three seats in Manitoba.

Billington says in the email that Moe has a "positive working relationship" with Freeland and looks forward to discussing the issues that face Saskatchewan.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 23, 2019.

The Canadian Press