Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has a weaker ally in the Manitoba premier than with the Saskatchewan premier, says former Alberta energy minister and finance minister Ted Morton..At the recent speech from the throne, the province of Saskatchewan pledged a Saskatchewan First Act, similar to Danielle Smith’s proposed Sovereignty Act. The speech followed a provincial report that showed federal policies would cost Saskatchewan at least $111 billion of business by 2035..In an interview with Western Standard, Ted Morton lauded the Saskatchewan government for its proactive stance.. Ted Morton .“Good for Premier Moe, good for the government of Saskatchewan for putting some dollar values on those transfers in that report, but we've been doing that in Alberta since the firewall letter, since 2000. The average net export from Alberta to Ottawa was $20 billion annually” Morton said..“It's a good policy for the Liberal Party of Canada, but it's a very bad policy for Saskatchewan and Alberta — and BC frankly. If it's bad for those two provinces I would say it's bad for Canada too.”.Morton says the premiers have done well to draw a line in the stand..“For both Moe and Smith, you're not going to get these concessions unless you have a strategy to play offence, not defence. And I think that's what attracted support to Danielle Smith to win the leadership race. And again, if she plays her cards right, I think it'll be a winning card next May,” Morton said.. Scott Moe Oct 27 2022Scott Moe .Saskatchewan and Alberta have been partners against Ottawa for more than 100 years, Morton points out. The Prairie provinces were the only ones that didn’t have control of their natural resources until the 1930 Natural Resources Transfer Act..“And then again in between '78 and '82, it culminates in the National Energy Program, but there were some Supreme Court cases involving Saskatchewan. (Former Saskatchewan premier Allan) Blakeney brought in some heavy taxes on oil and gas that were challenged by the oil and gas companies that didn't like them. They said it was outside provincial jurisdiction. And the Supreme Court agreed with them. .“Lougheed and Conservative government in Alberta went to court and supported the right of the jurisdictional right of Saskatchewan to impose those taxes. Lougheed and Blakeney were arm in arm fighting for that.”.The alliance helped lead to Section 92A of the 1982 Constitution Act which laid out even stronger resource rights for the provinces. However, Morton, a political science professor emeritus at the University of Calgary, says the fight is not over..“We still have 19th century politics where Quebec was one-third of the population and BC and Alberta and Saskatchewan were next to nothing. And today, BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan have more a higher population than Quebec and twice the GDP. So on the economic side we're much, much more important and larger than Quebec. But politically, they still dwarf us. And that's how the Liberal party gets elected.”.Smith urged solidarity in an October 24 letter to Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe. Smith requested a meeting in Churchill, Manitoba to discuss issues, including the possibility of more exports using the Hudson Bay Railway and Port of Churchill. Morton supports the concept.. Heather Stefanson .“At the macro level, it sounds like another good example of playing offence rather than defence. It represents an economic opportunity. And if there's one province that needs it, it's Manitoba.”.Manitoba became a province in 1870, but also benefited from the 1930 transfer of powers from the federal government. Even so, Morton says Manitoba’s perspective doesn’t match their western neighbours..“It's not a Western province. Geographically it is, but economically, and in terms of political culture, it's very different than Saskatchewan and Alberta. Geographically, it's the West, but culturally and economically, it's not.”.On Monday, Stefanson said offers from Smith to consider shipping oil through the Port of Churchill is not the Manitoba government's top priority.
