Meadow Lake MLA Jeremy Harrison believes the Saskatchewan NDP need to get their priorities straight. Recently, Saskatchewan NDP leader Carla Beck wrote a letter directly to Prime Minister Mark Carney, calling on him to lead a trade mission with Canadian premiers to China to address devastating tariffs on canola and get them removed. Harrison, however, said this goes against everything the provincial opposition has stood for in the past.

“The Saskatchewan Party has worked very hard to diversify our trade around the world,” Harrison, who formerly served as minister of trade and export development, said. “In my decade as Saskatchewan trade minister, I put an enormous amount of effort into this. And, it has worked. We now have the most diversification in our international trading relationships of any province in Canada. This is directly as a result of opening nine trade offices in important markets around the world and actively working with Saskatchewan exporters to engage directly with governments and businesses through international trade missions. These initiatives have created thousands of jobs right here in Saskatchewan which now has the strongest economy in Canada. All of these initiatives have been viciously attacked by the NDP who have demanded all of our Saskatchewan trade offices be closed and all international market development missions be ended. Them now calling for a trade mission to China is the very definition of hypocrisy. They have zero credibility on any economic matter – and especially any trade matter.”

As of last week, China imposed a 75.8 per cent tariff on canola, drastically increasing a penalty that has already been on canola and related products since March. “Saskatchewan canola producers have been harmed by China’s tariffs on canola oil and canola meal since they were announced in March of this year,” Beck wrote in her letter to the prime minister. “New tariffs on canola seed are a serious threat to Saskatchewan and require urgent action and attention by your government. Since these new tariffs were announced, I have heard from canola farmers, producer groups, and manufacturers who are gravely concerned about the impact these new tariffs could have on jobs and livelihoods in Saskatchewan and across the prairies.” According to Statistics Canada, Saskatchewan merchandise exports to China have already declined by 25.6 per cent year to date, and by 51.2 per cent from June 2024 to June 2025.

In her letter, Beck also called on Carney to journey as soon as possible to Saskatchewan to meet impacted farmers and workers. She also called for federal supports to be delivered for the Canadian canola sector as has been done for the tariff-impacted steel, auto and forestry sectors. In closing, Beck also asked Carney to consider removing the tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles as a conciliatory measure to end the canola tariffs. Harrison, meanwhile, said the Saskatchewan Party government has been frustrated the Government of Canada has seemingly prioritized eastern trade protectionism over western agricultural interests. “We have directly engaged with them and have discussed a range of potential options and actions,” he said. “Our agricultural producers need to be supported in both the short term and long-term. We will continue to work hard to make that happen.”