Has SK's Premier Scott Moe attached himself to Alberta's talk of separation?
Is Saskatchewan a "have not" province?
This article has some definite opinions: (This is the FB link - text is copied below, just in case....)
by James Lee
Saskatchewan Isn’t a “Have-Not” Province—It’s a Mismanaged One (And Separation Would Be a Disaster)
Saskatchewan should be a powerhouse. It has some of the richest resource reserves in the country:
45% of the world’s potash
Third-largest oil-producing province in Canada
World-class uranium deposits
Top-tier farmland
Massive wind & solar potential
And yet?
2nd-lowest GDP growth in Canada in 2023 (1.1%)
Youth out-migration, weak private investment, brain drain
Innovation and tech development far behind Alberta and BC
(Source: Statistics Canada, Global News)
This is not Ottawa’s fault. It’s the result of poor leadership in Regina.
Premier Scott Moe and the Sask Party have:
Undermined confidence with the hollow “Saskatchewan First Act”
Rejected climate transition funding that could’ve created new industries
Delayed essential childcare agreements
Failed to invest in diversification while other provinces race ahead
> “We’re sitting on goldmines and acting broke.” — Don Atchison, former Saskatoon mayor, 2022 (Global News)
Why blame Ottawa? Because accountability is politically expensive.
Premier Moe—and Danielle Smith in Alberta—are locked in a cycle of populist blame-shifting. Rather than admit provincial mismanagement, they turn Ottawa into a scapegoat to distract voters from crumbling infrastructure, rising costs, and lost opportunity. It’s easier to stir up regional resentment than to offer a real economic plan. Both Moe and Smith use nationalism, fear, and federal confrontation to deflect from stagnant growth, failed healthcare investments, and resistance to innovation. Conservative mismanagement wrapped in patriotism is still mismanagement.
Worst of all? The talk of Western separation is dangerous fantasy.
Let’s be blunt: Saskatchewan would be completely exposed.
No military. No border protection. No international trade agreements. No currency of its own.
Vulnerable to foreign interference, economic bullying, and U.S. exploitation.
America already dominates prairie oil and agriculture markets. They would extract your resources at a discount and leave you with environmental risk, no leverage, and no recourse.
Look at how the U.S. treats its own “have-not” states. Look at what they did to Mexico under NAFTA. Look at how they’ve handled migrant labor, pipeline control, and energy disputes.
Do you think they’d treat an isolated Saskatchewan better?
Where does this short-sightedness come from?
It’s easier to blame “Ottawa” than to ask why provincial leaders keep choosing ideology over innovation. Easier to talk tough about sovereignty than do the hard work of building one.
There’s no independence without infrastructure. No prosperity without planning. No freedom without strategy.
This isn’t about pride. It’s about refusing to grow up as a province.
Saskatchewan has the resources of a “have” province—but it won’t act like one.
Instead of building a future, too many are clinging to a myth that Canada is the problem.
Canada isn't holding you back. It’s holding you up.
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Sources:
Statistics Canada, GDP by province, 2023
Global News, “Saskatchewan’s Innovation Gap,” 2022
CBC News, “Sask. delays childcare deal,” 2021
Natural Resources Canada, Potash & Uranium Reports
Canada West Foundation, Trade Dependencies Report, 2022
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