Former Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall is urging trade diversification in the face of American uncertainty.
While a lot of focus in the federal election campaign has been on dealings with U.S. President Donald Trump, Wall doesn't know if anyone is really prepared for Trump's approach.
"Either are going to be as able as the other one to deal with the President," Wall said. "It changes every day. I'm not sure if there's anybody including people in the President's own administration who are ready for that kind of volatility and the changes we've seen.
"It's really, really important for Canada to diversify away from our dependence on the United States."
That doesn't mean giving up on the relationship.
"They will always be an important trading partner," Wall said. "When we get through this Trump era of tariffs and even through it they're going to be a huge part of our economy, but we need to diversify."
What stands out in that way for the former premier is Canada's inability to get energy products to other markets.
"We have the third greatest oil reserves on the planet, and we have one customer in the United States," Wall said. "Why is that? Because we can't build pipelines to the coast to export it to other markets. Especially when it comes to (liquefied natural gas) we had a previous Liberal government, and it doesn't appear to be changed under Mr. Carney, that doesn't even seem to be interested in trying to export LNG to the world.
"We don't even sell Canadian oil to Canadians. We're importing it into eastern Canada from various countries around the world."
Wall questions how Canada will diversify if the party in power isn't supportive of finding ways to get Canadian energy products to the market.
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Brad Wall on horseback on the ranch in the Cypress Hills. (File Photo)
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Brad Wall on horseback on the ranch in the Cypress Hills. (File Photo)
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