Moe says urgent federal action needed before election call to ensure canola industry 'not left in purgatory'

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says Canada's incoming prime minister needs to immediately and urgently negotiate a way to avoid China's planned tariffs on Canadian canola — even before an election call.

Prime minister-designate Mark Carney and his cabinet will be sworn in Friday after his recent victory in the Liberal leadership race.

Carney is expected to call an election before Parliament resumes on March 24. If that happens, Canadians will likely head to the polls in late April or early May.

Moe said on Thursday that engagement with China needs to happen before any election to ensure that the canola industry "is not left in purgatory" during a campaign.

China has announced it intends to put 100 per cent retaliatory tariffs on canola oil and canola meal, as well as tariffs on other Canadian goods like seafood and pork, on Mar. 20 in response to Canada's 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles and a 25 per cent levy on Chinese aluminum and steel products imposed on Oct. 1.

Moe said China's tariffs would "decimate" the canola industry in Saskatchewan "in a matter of a number of weeks, not months."

On Thursday, Moe said closed canola crushing facilities across Canada, including Saskatchewan, would be the Liberals' legacy "to wear" throughout the election campaign.

He said there would be temporary job loss at those plants, but also an "incredible" loss of markets that would have even have more impact.

"They were incredibly hard to build in the first place and they're going to be incredibly hard to regain," he said.

"So I don't know that those jobs will immediately come back."

On Thursday, Moe reiterated his assertion that no one in Canada is buying EVs from China.

Moe said the Liberal government needs to show a signal to China's government that it is ready to negotiate and to find a path to a non-tariff environment.

This week, Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne told CTV News the federal government has no intention of dropping the tariffs on China's EVs.

Moe also expressed disappointment that Carney's first planned international visit as prime minister is to the European Union.