The provincial arm of the NDP is breaking ranks with their federal counterparts on at least one policy.
Federal leader of the NDP Jagmeet Singh voiced and then backed up his support of Prime Minister Trudeau using the emergencies act.
MLA Nicole Sauer spoke to the press today and established that her party would support the province’s position.
Sauer says that the Premier’s first instinct was to appease illegal blockades, rather than stand up for the rule of law and Saskatchewan producers.
Premier Moe issued a letter to protesters thanking them for the work of truckers and ensuring them that mandates within the province would be lifted.
Premier Scott Moe has not ruled out challenging the emergency act alongside Alberta Premier Jason Kenny, and although the provincial NDP would support a court challenge they do feel Premier Moe’s focus should be put towards our struggling health care system and other provincial issues – instead of engaging in a dog fight with Justin Trudeau.
” We don’t see this act as being necessary for the province of Saskatchewan. It is quite clear, as we saw a few weeks ago when the protest happened in Regina – that our police forces have the tools that they need to address these issues, and they did so effectively and proactively.”
Sauer continued that a court challenge would allow important questions to be asked – but suggested that the Premier should focus on hospitals and issues that are affecting Saskatchewan residents today – rather than spending time discussing a court challenge. Sauer and the provincial NDP do have worries about how the emergencies act might affect Saskatchewan residents, Sauer suggested that a court challenge would provide additional clarity as to whether this was the appropriate time to use the emergencies act, and how it might be better utilized in the future.
Sauer and the party are moving away from the direction of the Federal NDP, “We are the Saskatchewan NDP,” said Sauer, “and we often take positions that are different than our federal counterparts. This is one of them,”
The Saskatchewan party welcomed the support of the opposition in a statement – but questioned whether the provincial caucus consulted with their federal counterparts.
“…we would sincerely hope they also took the time to raise this with their federal NDP counterparts who are single-handedly responsible for this Act being applied in Saskatchewan, as they agreed to pass it in the House of Commons without proposing any amendments that would exempt our province. To be clear, this Act would never have been passed without the support of the NDP.”
The Saskatchewan Party is continually evaluating legal options are available to them and will be making a decision about a challenge on the national stage in the coming days.