About 400 people attended a public forum in Regina on Saturday hearing that Saskatchewan independence was the only solution for a corrupted confederation structurally oppressive to the West.The Saskatchewan Prosperity Project (SPP) and Prairie Rising hosted the event. Michelle Krieger, a Buffalo Party candidate in the last provincial election, said the Freedom Convoy showed “protest alone will not save us.”“The federal government unlawfully invoked the Emergencies Act and violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Supreme Court of Canada has since confirmed twice that what the federal government did was unconstitutional, yet still no charges were laid and no accountability has ever followed,” Krieger said.Krieger warned of the consequences of accepting the status quo.“Our children and grandchildren will never own homes, will never know real freedom, and will live under a system far more oppressive than what we know today. That is not the country our families fought for, and it is not the future we are willing to accept,” she added.“We need everyone in Saskatchewan to stand up and be brave, to fight for our province, to demand that our voices are heard, to insist that our government stand with us, not against us.”.SPP President Brad Williams followed with a 40-minute address, alleging Canada has always been Eastern-focused. He quoted Minister of the Interior Clifford Sifton, who said in 1904, “We desire…that the great trade of the Prairies shall go to enrich our people to the East, to build up our factories and our places of work, and in every legitimate way to our prosperity.”Williams outlined Western Canada’s under-representation in the Senate and on the Supreme Court before showing a map of current net contributors to equalization: B.C., Alberta, and Saskatchewan.The speaker said if the tables turned and the West needed the East to support it, there would be nothing to get. He pointed to investment dollars leaving Canada and stagnant GDP growth as proof.“This ship in Canada is going down, and we have a choice along Alberta. We can take our big, beautiful, strong lifeboats. We can throw ‘em up there. We can jump in and let go of the rope, or we can hold on and go down with the ship. The choice is ours.” Williams pointed to recent government projects that benefited Prime Minister Mark Carney’s former company of Brookfield Asset Management. He pointed out that the prime minister had to recuse himself from decisions affecting more than 100 companies due to his substantial retained holdings and potential future performance pay from the Brookfield Global Transition Fund..Liberal government plans to confiscate guns concern Williams, given historic precedents.“Whenever a government takes your guns as citizens it’s because they have something planned that's coming afterwards," Williams warned.Williams also warned of Ottawa’s increasing encroachment on freedoms of speech and religion and the use of cash. He also condemned high taxes, deficit spending, and pricey government contracts with no return and no accountability.“Mice die in mouse traps because they do not understand why the cheese is free. The same thing happens with socialism,” Williams said. “Some people really honestly think, as well as most politicians these days–falsely think that money falls from the sky.”A federal handout to Senegal was a special target of Williams’ ire. They received $25 million to help with youth unemployment, even though their 4.1% rate was much better than the 14.7% in Canada.“What about our kids? Where's the money for our kids? And it just goes on and on,” Williams complained.Williams also said becoming a U.S. state was unlikely because it would require two-thirds bi-partisan support among U.S. elected representatives. He also said Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico would have better chances for statehood.Prairie Rising has events planned in Shaunavon, Estevan, Stenen, Moosomin, and Moose Jaw in coming weeks.
