Premier Scott Moe at Merchant Logo Prince Albert & District Chamber Of Commerce luncheon. (Jaryn Vecchio/paNOW Staff)

By Jaryn Vecchio

NATURAL RESOURCES

Moe believes NRTA comments further damages relationship between feds and prairie provinces

Apr 11, 2023 | 5:00 PM

Saskatchewan’s Premier believes the federal government has done a lot of damage to its relationship with the prairie provinces.

Scott Moe was in Prince Albert on Tuesday where he shared his frustration with Federal Justice Minister David Lametti after he told First Nations leaders he would look at rescinding the Natural Resources Transfer Agreements (NRTA).

The NRTA dates back to the 1930s and gives control of land and natural resources to Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

Moe told reporters since the federal government can’t just change the constitution, therefore the NRTA, the only thing Lametti’s comments did was make their already poor relationship with the prairies even sourer.

“Those divisions are out there because he didn’t have the good sense to actually answer the question with the only answer that is available to him and that is the federal government does not have jurisdiction when it comes to natural resources.”

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Moe hopes the federal government, specifically Lametti and Prime Minister Trudeau, understands why his province, along with Alberta and Manitoba, are upset. He believes the best way for them to fix this would be to come out and state that they can’t just change the Constitution and that they made a mistake.

Meanwhile, Moe clarified that he has no hard feelings for the First Nations leaders who asked Lametti about the NRTA.

This included Brian Hardlotte, Grand Chief of the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC).

“It’s fair for him to ask the question (but) there’s only one answer and it wasn’t given by the Federal Minister of Justice.”

Moe stated he understands this isn’t what some people want to hear.

Moving forward, he hopes to have more communication with Indigenous communities and their leadership.

“It doesn’t mean we agree on every point, but most certainly we’re going to work together,” Moe said.

He also wants to highlight the benefits that revenue from selling these natural resources has on the province. He also doesn’t want anyone to think that they just collect all the revenue and don’t put any of it back into the province.

“The resources are here for everyone’s benefit. We’re building a new hospital in the city of Prince Albert that’s fully provincially funded,” Moe said. “That’s for everyone, whether they’re Indigenous or non-Indigenous.”

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow