OTTAWA—Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe left Ottawa empty-handed Tuesday after his first meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after the October federal election.

Moe, one of the loudest voices of Western provinces’ frustration with Trudeau’s Liberals, wanted changes to the federal equalization system, a one-year reprieve for his province from the federal carbon tax, and a commitment from the prime minister to help boost Saskatchewan’s exports.

The Saskatchewan premier told reporters outside the Prime Minister’s Office he was “disappointed” with the meeting.

“After this meeting here today, what I do see is that we’re going to see more of the same from this prime minister,” Moe said after the meeting with Trudeau.

“We had provided some options for him to support the people of the province and today I did not hear a commitment to moving forward on those items.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Trudeau said the prime minister will continue to have “constructive discussions” with premiers and mayors.

“In addition to ensuring this Parliament works, Canadians expect our government to make life more affordable for them and fight climate change,” Cameron Ahmad said in a statement.

“The prime minister is eager to work together to keep making progress and grow the middle class, and looks forward to meeting with all premiers one-on-one in the near future.”

Moe called for a “new deal with Canada” for his province after the Oct. 21 federal election, which saw Conservative MPs win all 14 of Saskatchewan’s federal ridings.

The premier suggested Tuesday that the Liberals failure to secure a single seat in the province — including losing longtime MP and cabinet minister Ralph Goodale’s Regina riding — was an expression of the anger growing in Saskatchewan and Alberta towards Trudeau and central Canada.

Moe and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney have been at the forefront of that anger, with Kenney also demanding equalization reform and the repeal of recent Liberal environmental legislation.

Like Kenney, Moe suggested Wednesday that he will turn his efforts to finding ways to make Saskatchewan more independent from the federal government — although he stopped short of endorsing Western separation rhetoric.

“We are going to start to broaden our ambitions, if you will, with respect to Saskatchewan’s outreach to our trading partners around the world,” Moe said.

“We are also going to look at options that we have to expand our provincial autonomy in the province.”

But a Liberal source with direct knowledge of the meeting between Trudeau and Moe said the prime minister was willing to listen to specific proposals on equalization — provided Moe can receive buy-in from his 12 fellow premiers.

“The prime minister said ‘look, if you have a specific proposal as chair of the Council of the Federation, and you have buy-in from all the provinces on changing the formula that (former prime minister Stephen) Harper and Kenney set … I’m open to hearing proposals and ideas,’” the source, who was granted anonymity to discuss a private meeting, said.

“So he didn’t say that he would refuse to hear ideas, but he made it clear that this is what we’re talking about and we have to stick to the facts and it can’t just be all about rhetoric.”

It’s Moe’s year to chair the Council of the Federation, the annual meeting of provincial and territorial leaders. While the Saskatchewan premier has allies opposing the federal carbon price, including Ontario Premier Doug Ford, he may find his proposals on equalization a tougher sell around that table.

In Quebec’s National Assembly Tuesday, Parti Québécois interim leader Pascal Bérubé suggested he would put forward a motion calling on the federal government not to make any changes to the equalization formula without the express approval of the Quebec government.

It’s those kinds of regional tensions that create a political hurdle to tweaking equalization, the federal transfer program aimed at ensuring Canadians have comparable public services whatever province they live in.

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“The federal government can change the formula however and whenever they see fit. They’re really just political considerations here,” said University of Calgary economics professor Trevor Tombe in an interview Tuesday.

“Equalization is always an issue that’s raised in different provinces at different points in time. There’s nothing new here … It continues a long-standing tradition in Canada.”

Moe was the third conservative premier to meet with Trudeau after the Liberals were returned to Ottawa with a minority mandate. Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister and Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King both met with the prime minister last week.

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