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The province’s Official Opposition Saskatchewan NDP were in Moose Jaw yesterday to strongly condemn the Unified Grassroots plan for town halls across the province advocating separation from Canada.
Sally Housser is the Sask NDP Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources and spoke in Moose Jaw outside Sask Party Wakamow MLA Megan Patterson’s constituency office to warn that entertaining ideas of separatism will cause economic harms.
“There’s so much potential here in Moose Jaw,” Housser told media, “so much economic opportunity in mining, trucking, and agriculture, and we can do so much more to create good-paying jobs, drive investment, and secure our economic future. We can build generational economic projects to benefit all of Saskatchewan — more rail lines, more pipelines, and more power lines.
“All of that is under threat with the talk of separatism here in Saskatchewan, and in Alberta. Energy leaders are sounding the alarm that even talk of separatism is hurting investment.”
Unified Grassroots, a political group leading separatist efforts in the province, published an initial list of town halls they’re planning, beginning Sunday in Saskatoon. The group’s leader Nadine Ness said during a Facebook livestream last week that there will be 15 town halls (1:08:35). So far, dates have been published for Kindersley, Moose Jaw, Meadow Lake, Regina, Shaunavon, Weyburn, and Estevan.
All are due to take place between now and the end of June.
Ness also claimed that Unified Grassroots has 7,000 people who have signed an online petition and that many of these signatories are ready to organize and collect petitions to force a referendum on Saskatchewan leaving Canada (1:05:30).
Efforts to achieve a ‘sovereign Saskatchewan’ face significant roadblocks, including strong constitutional barriers, economic uncertainty, and limited public support. With no existing legal path, separation would require complex negotiations with the federal government, possibly constitutional amendments, and paradigm-changing risks to trade and investment. Saskatchewan's reliance on federal transfers and integrated national infrastructure complicates the feasibility of independence. Polling also suggests that while frustration with Ottawa is high, a clear majority of the province’s residents consider themselves Canadian first.
The country’s binding treaties with First Nation peoples is another obstacle for Ness and her supporters.
During the last week of the Spring Sitting, he Saskatchewan Party blocked repeated attempts to hold a vote on NDP Leader Carla Beck’s Keep Saskatchewan In Canada Act. Premier Scott Moe has said he does not support separatism and wants a unified Canada — but he will not oppose groups attempting to organize political referendums.
“The premier of our province refuses to tell these separatists that they’re doing more harm than good,” said Housser.
“We all know the reason why — Moe has ties to Unified Grassroots. Some of his candidates’ campaigns were supported by this separatist group. Maybe Scott Moe himself no longer cares if Saskatchewan remains part of Canada?”
Housser called the separatism town halls a “summer-long tour” that will put the province’s economy at risk, even as the opportunity for a reset on relations with Ottawa could help jumpstart big infrastructure projects.
“Moe needs to show leadership and make it clear to the people talking about separating from Canada that this hurts Saskatchewan, hurts Canada, and hurt all of our economies.”