Saskatchewan premier calls on Prime Minister Carney to meet with China’s Xi on canola

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said Thursday that he wants Prime Minister Mark Carney to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to resolve the trade issues that have led to steep tariffs on Canadian canola products.

“It isn’t going to be Premier Moe and President Xi that stand up and say, ‘We’ve come to a trade deal here and everything is good moving forward,'” he said.

Moe said he will be in China in the next couple of weeks to engage with officials there, but he believes Carney and Xi are the only two people who can ultimately resolve the trade dispute.

“There will be opportunities for the president and the prime minister to meet, I think, when you look at the global calendar of events,” he told reporters after a meeting with industry groups and federal government representatives in Saskatoon.

Federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald joined the meeting virtually, along with Buckley Belanger, Saskatchewan’s representative in cabinet. Moe said MacDonald was planning to be in Saskatoon but was not able to get there because of airline disruptions.

Both Carney and Xi are expected to be at the G20 meetings in South Africa in November. The Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation leaders’ forum is also being held in South Korea the same month. 

Moe said Thursday’s meeting, which included canola producers and exporters, also included discussions about the challenges with Canada’s top export market for canola, the U.S.