OTTAWA—Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe left Ottawa empty-handed Tuesday after his first meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after the October federal election.Moe, one of the loudest voices of Western provinces’ frustration with Trudeau’s Liberals, wanted changes to the federal equalization system, a one-year reprieve for his province from the federal carbon tax, and a commitment from the prime minister to help boost Saskatchewan’s exports.The Saskatchewan premier told reporters outside the Prime Minister’s Office he was “disappointed” with the meeting. “After this meeting here today, what I do see is that we’re going to see more of the same from this prime minister,” Moe said after the meeting with Trudeau.“We had provided some options for him to support the people of the province and today I did not hear a commitment to moving forward on those items.”Moe called for a “new deal with Canada” for his province after the Oct. 21 federal election, which saw Conservative MPs win all 14 of Saskatchewan’s federal ridings.The premier suggested Tuesday that the Liberals failure to secure a single seat in the province — including losing longtime MP and cabinet minister Ralph Goodale’s Regina riding — was an expression of the anger growing in Saskatchewan and Alberta towards Trudeau and central Canada.Moe and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney have been at the forefront of that anger, with Kenney also demanding equalization reform and the repeal of recent Liberal environmental legislation.Like Kenney, Moe suggested Wednesday that he will turn his efforts to finding ways to make Saskatchewan more independent from the federal government — although he stopped short of endorsing Western separation rhetoric.“We are going to start to broaden our ambitions, if you will, with respect to Saskatchewan’s outreach to our trading partners around the world,” ...
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