đź—ł Moe calls for federal election

Moe calls for federal election as Trudeau weighs export tariffs, Ottawa orders end to Canada Post strike, and Saskatoon council holds emergency meeting as count reveals 1,500 homeless.

December 16, 2024

December 16, 2024 | Advertise with us

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Good morning! This will be our last week publishing before an extended pause into the new year. Enjoy these last few days of political news before then!

Here’s The SKoop for Monday, December 16:

  • Moe calls for federal election as Trudeau weighs export tariffs,

  • Ottawa orders end to Canada Post dispute, and

  • Saskatoon council holds special meeting as report reveals 1,500 homeless.

Today’s Top Stories

Premier Moe calls for federal election as PMO weighs export tariffs

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe. (Global News)

The Premier of Saskatchewan made national news over the weekend when he officially called for a federal election.

Premier Scott Moe said, “We have just heard today that the federal government may be looking at export tariffs on oil, potash and uranium. Export tariffs on our own products. So taxing Canadians on products that we are exporting, which is exactly as ridiculous as it sounds. It’s a betrayal of those that work in the industry. It certainly is a betrayal by the federal government if they are considering any type of an export tax on potash, oil or uranium.”

In an interview with Global News, Moe said, “Maybe it’s time for Canadians to have a say and a choice and to determine who they would like to have a four-year mandate to negotiate with the incoming Trump administration. We would ask Prime Minister Trudeau to do the right thing, to give Canadians the opportunity to make the choice on who is going to represent them at the table… that can happen anytime.”

The Premier also said the federal government needs to state there will be no export taxes on western Canadian commodities like oil, uranium and potash.

The Saskatchewan NDP also spoke out against the proposal. Shadow Minister of Energy Sally Housser said, “Trudeau once again picking winners and losers among the provinces. Saskatchewan energy jobs cannot be a bargaining chip.”

NDP leader Carla Beck voiced her concern in a statement saying, “The Trudeau government should be considering, if necessary, responding with equivalent tariffs on US consumer goods. The impact of export taxes to our economy would be disproportionate - Saskatchewan cannot be used as a sacrificial pawn in negotiations. What the Trudeau government is reportedly considering is the furthest thing from a Team Canada approach.”

Learn more about the great work the Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association and its members are doing at saskheavy.ca.

Ottawa orders end to Canada Post dispute

Striking Canada Post employees. (The Globe and Mail)

After one month of halted Canada Post operations, The federal government has directed the Canadian Industrial Relations Board to order Canada Post workers back to their jobs, and to extend their existing collective agreement until May 2025 if an agreement cannot be reached.

Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon announced on Friday morning, “This has been a month in which Canadians from coast to coast to coast, small businesses, as well as Canadians in remote regions and Indigenous communities have suffered greatly. As Minister of Labour, I have a responsibility to protect Canadians and the public interest.” A mediator said an agreement could not be reached.

The minister asked the board to "assess the likelihood" of a negotiated agreement this year, and if resolution proves unlikely, order the union back to work.

The minister will see that 55,000 employees return to the job until May. The job action has left the country with limited mail service for four weeks. The two parties still have a few days to come to their own agreement, but the minister expects them to be back to work this week.

In a letter posted online Thursday, Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) President Jan Simpson told members to “stay strong.” “Strikes are never easy. They demand sacrifice, resilience, and a belief that change is worth fighting for,” she wrote. Speaking to CTV over the weekend, CUPW negotiator Jim Gallant said "I feel like he's [The Minister’s] treating us like children, it's time-out, that's for sure."

In Calgary, striking workers said they hope to defy the legislation saying, “If no mail goes out, no mail goes out.”

Earlier this month, Angus Reid released polling that showed 7 in 10 Canadians were affected by the strike, with split sympathy. The CFIB released data showing that three-quarters of small businesses supported back-to-work legislation.

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Saskatoon council holds special meeting as count reveals 1,500 homeless in the city

An encampment on 20th Street West in Saskatoon was torn down in late November. (CBC Sask.)

Saskatoon City Council held a special meeting last week to address homelessness years into the future, but frustration grew throughout the meeting as the province was absent from the conversation.

Ward 10 councillor Zach Jeffries voiced his frustration, “This is not something that is in our jurisdiction. And this is not even our project. And yet here we are being the ones to move the ball as quickly as possible. The folks who are not housed right now in these cold temperatures deserve the same urgency from the province as they have had from our administration here today."

The city council unanimously voted to add $4.8 million in spending to create a community encampment response plan, matching one-time funding of the same amount from the federal government via the Unsheltered Homelessness and Encampments Initiative.

The plan is designed in six phases, with some work already completed or begun. Over those phases, the city aims to expand its mobile outreach service, invest in a permanent emergency shelter, create 30 new supportive housing units with a community space that can be used for warming up and cooling down, and complete a feasibility study for a future community navigation centre.

City council approved the location of a new 35-bed emergency shelter on Pacific Avenue in September. The cost to run the facility for 18 months was supposed to be covered by a provincial grant of $250,000, but the estimated construction cost is now more than double the funds available at $610,000. The province is in talks with Mustard Seed, the organization running the Lighthouse and that will run the new shelter. It is said that the building is far from ready as there is no working heat or ventilation.

Earlier this month the city approved $200,000 for an emergency warming shelter.

Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block said, "I understand that council is frustrated, and I think that we are taking the job very seriously from the standpoint that our residents expect us to be moving forward in a manner that is actually starting to solve the issues that we face. I would just be very surprised if anybody who is employed with the provincial government as an elected official did not hear that exact same sentiment on the doors where they knocked as well.”

The latest count of homeless people in Saskatoon shows a significant increase over the last one, done two years ago. The point-in-time (PIT) count, conducted by volunteers on October 8, identified 1,499 people experiencing homelessness that day. That's nearly three times higher than the 2022 count, which identified 550.

This news comes as a new study shows that half of Canadians fear losing their homes due to financial changes.