Sask. Opposition introduces anti-separation bill

Saskatchewan's Opposition NDP introduced a bill on Wednesday that would increase the threshold for citizen petitions on separation referendums, and create a legal barrier to prevent the premier and cabinet from unilaterally calling such a referendum.

"This is about not leaving things to chance and about showing some leadership in that respect," NDP energy and resources critic Sally Housser said. "You see Danielle Smith in Alberta trying to make [separation] easier. We want to make it harder."

The bill, called the Keep Saskatchewan in Canada Act, would amend Saskatchewan's Referendum and Plebiscite Act to explicitly exclude separation referendums from the list of referendums that the premier or legislative assembly would be legally allowed to call. 

It also would also raise the threshold for successful citizen petitions on separation referendums, requiring signatures from 30 per cent of eligible voters instead of 15 per cent.

Currently a separation petition by citizen group Unified Grassroots has generated roughly 3,000 signatures. To meet the current 15 per cent threshold, it would need to accumulate roughly 125,000.

The bill's introduction comes after several days of the Saskatchewan NDP and Saskatchewan Party government trading accusations over each other's motives with regard to provincial separation.

Premier Scott Moe, who described the amendment as the "silence Saskatchewan people bill" during question period on Wednesday, accused the NDP of being responsible for keeping separatist threats at the top of the political agenda.

"The party that wants everyone to stop talking about separation, certainly can't stop talking about separation," he said, before reiterating the right of citizens to launch plebiscites under current legislation.

"I will never vote to separate from this province," NDP Leader Carla Beck said. "But I am not sure that that premier can say the same for his team." 

The bill will be given its second reading on Thursday.

NDP meets with steelworker union

Earlier on Wednesday, Beck met with several union leaders from United Steelworkers (USW). Among them were USW District 3 director for Western Canada Scott Lunny and Mike Day, president of USW Local 5890, which represents workers at Evraz in Regina. 

The closed-door meeting focused primarily on how the government can assist steelworkers in light of American tariffs and help expand the industry within Canada.

"We need to build infrastructure," Beck said. "Whether we're talking about pipelines, whether we're talking about rail lines and increasing rail capacity, port access, port functioning."

Beck went on to reference the NDP's anti-separation bill, saying that separation threats would naturally be bad for business. 

"We're here for Canadian jobs, Canadian procurement projects, everything like that. So we want to stand united, as a united country," Mike Day said when asked about separation threats. 

The U.S. is currently charging a 25 per cent tariff on all steel and aluminum products entering the country.

According to Statistics Canada, Saskatchewan exported $387 million worth of iron and steel products and $26 million worth of aluminum to the United States in 2024. In a separate interview with CBC in March 2025, Day estimated that about 30 per cent of the steel produced at the Evraz facility is shipped to a sister plant in the U.S.

The Canadian government currently has retaliatory tariffs on $28.9 billion of goods in response to steel and aluminum tariffs.