The US and Canada are now battling it out in a trade war with the States hitting us with 25 per cent broad tariffs, with the federal government responding with a targeted list. The provinces are also getting in on the action, with Saskatchewan announcing some of their own measures yesterday.
That included a stop on the provincial distributor for liquor buying US alcohol and a plan to study SaskBuilds projects and see where the province can buy more Canadian.
Estevan MLA and Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Rural and Remote Health and Seniors, Lori Carr, voiced her disappointment that the tariffs have gone through.
An auto industry exemption has come through from the states and a similar agriculture exemption is being rumoured, as Carr says the province is focusing on limiting any damages the tariffs could do.
"I know that there have been several conversations that have taken place with lawmakers and legislators across the line, relationships that we've built over the years, and I know that they have the ear of the US President and hopefully someone is talking some sense into him. In the meantime, we need to deal with what we have in front of us."
While Carr says Saskatchewan has always tried to put local businesses and products first, they're taking an extra step with these measures.
"Now we're just going to put that extra lens on that to ensure that what we are building or what we are doing that we have maximized that to the nth degree."
Carr hopes that stopping the sale of US alcohol to retailers will allow locals to discover new made-in-Canada brands.
"This is an opportunity for individuals to buy a different type of vodka or a different type of beer. Try something new out while this is happening, and who knows, you might like it and not go back to that old brand you used to favour."
The southeast won't be too affected by a temporary pause being issued to some SaskBuilds projects that might be using more US products than needed. Even so, Carr says they'll make sure future projects, like the new Estevan Nursing Home, will be as Canadian-sourced as possible.
"We're doing a lot of planning for projects, so that kind of work will continue to take place and then hopefully by the time we get to the stage where we're actually going to RFP or tender them, all of this will be behind us. But as we do move forward, I think the planning that goes into it, how can we make it more Canadian in focus."
One item that wasn't directly addressed in the announcement that has been talked about during the tariff situation is interprovincial trade barriers.
Carr is hoping to see free trade take off between the provinces, like the New West Partnership has across Western Canada.
"It's something that obviously we're going to need to expand to the east and things like trucking regulations, making things easier so that there are no interprovincial barriers. All the load rules are the same weights, that kind of stuff. So stuff that probably should have been happening in the past and now it's just brought it to light that this is something that we truly need to take care of in our own backyard."
Carr expects to see more developments from the US in the future as the current setup is somewhat volatile between the countries.
For now, Saskatchewan is thankful they've put in some work expanding to new markets.
"One thing that Saskatchewan really does have going for it is we have nine international trade offices around the world and they have been successful already in garnering new markets for products that we produce right here in Saskatchewan. We knew that we couldn't rely on Canada for those exports or creating those markets for us. So we created them for ourselves and now those offices are going to be even more important than they were before and we're really, really happy that we went down that road and did that."