REGINA — The Saskatchewan NDP has spoken against invoking the federal Emergencies Act within the province, but not without criticism of the Saskatchewan premier’s earlier statements on the potential decision.
Deputy party leader and justice critic Nicole Sarauer spoke on Wednesday, prior to any announcements regarding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's decision on invoking the act.
“We don’t need the Emergencies Act to be invoked in Saskatchewan,” said Sarauer, from the Legislative Assembly in Regina.
Sarauer and the NDP said they feel Saskatchewan’s provincial law enforcement is succeeding in managing convoys and other association protests in Saskatchewan at this time. She said that a regional implementation of the act, following provisions in Section 19, would have been a more appropriate use of the legislation’s power.
"It’s important to remember that this first use of the Emergencies Act is precedent-setting and will have implications moving forward," said Sarauer. "We feel the federal government should have explored that option."
The NDP’s position aligns them with the Saskatchewan Party, following social media comments from Premier Scott Moe earlier in the week also denouncing the act’s necessity within the province.
Moe previously said that Saskatchewan may consider filing a court challenge against the federal government’s use of the Emergencies Act in the province.
Aside from similar stances regarding the federal government’s action plan, Sarauer also critiqued the Sask Party leader’s statements and called for him to “turn down the heat on the rhetoric.”
“At a time when leaders need to be stepping up to bring people together, the premier has again sowed division and fuelled the dangerous rhetoric around protests and blockades,” said Sarauer. "They’ve forgotten who they were elected to serve."
Sarauer said the premier’s recent statements regarding the protest in Ottawa and the convoy movement served to “fuel the flames instead of stepping up to lead.”
“It is a bit rich for a Premier who wants to set up his own private security force for the Legislature, who has tried to interfere with law enforcement in the past, to now be saying to trust police to do their job,” said Sarauer.
The NDP called on the provincial government to abandon it's proposal to remove the independent Sergeant-at-Arms at the legislative building in exchange for a private security force.
“If he really believes what he’s saying, and that those already doing the work on the ground should be trusted, he should scrap Bill 70,” said Sarauer.
