Sask. premier loses political foil with Trudeau's resignation announcement

Experts say Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's decision to step down could lead to a change in the relationship between Saskatchewan and the federal government.

Trudeau announced Monday morning that he will step down once the Liberal Party has chosen a successor. Gov. Gen. Mary Simon also agreed to prorogue Parliament until March 24.

Jim Farney, the director of the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Regina, said on CBC's Blue Sky Monday that some things will certainly be different.

"There will be a bunch of changes, I think, regardless of who's sitting in the prime minister's chair," Farney said.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has long used Trudeau as a political foil, picking fights over federal carbon pricing and the implementation of clean energy regulations, among other things. 

Moe has repeatedly called in recent months for a federal election and labelled the confidence-and-supply agreement between the Liberals and the NDP as a Liberal-NDP coalition government. 

Charles Smith, a professor of political science at the University of Saskatchewan, said Trudeau's departure may make no difference at all.

"I think that on one level it's going to be hard for [Moe]. On the other hand, the policies remain and the Liberal government still is not very popular in Saskatchewan," Smith said.

"So I think that that alone will allow the premier to be able to challenge Ottawa. I actually think it's harder for Scott Moe to do that if there's a Poilievre government in Ottawa."

Farney said the Liberals under Justin Trudeau have been an activist federal government that is "pretty assertive" about using federal spending powers to assist other levels of government. 

That includes bypassing provincial governments and going directly to municipalities, such as when it provided money to address homelessness. 

"So we've seen the pushback at that from the provinces," Farney said.

That approach could change with a new Liberal leader in charge, he said.

Premier Moe had yet to comment on Trudeau's resignation as of 4:45 p.m. CST on Monday.