Sask. Opposition calls on premier to denounce pro sovereignty group

Chris Edwards · CBC News

· Posted: May 24, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

Saskatchewan's Opposition NDP repeated its call on Friday for Premier Scott Moe to denounce the efforts of advocacy radical Unified Grassroots, which the NDP says is driving a separation question successful the province. 

Earlier this month, Unified Grassroots launched a petition to clasp a sovereignty referendum that has garnered more than 4,000 signatures.

"I deliberation it's incumbent connected him to accidental intelligibly that helium does not enactment this enactment that they're doing," NDP jobs and system professional Aleana Young said connected Friday, lasting astatine a podium emblazoned with the slogan "Canada 1st. Never 51st."

"Any speech of separation is incredibly unsafe for our system and it's divisive for this province. The premier has had aggregate opportunities to beryllium wide connected this, to archer radical wherever helium stands, particularly with a radical that has good documented ties to his enactment and his governmental organization."

If successful, Unified Grassroots's petition would statesman a process to motorboat a plebiscite ballot aft being submitted to the government. In bid to beryllium submitted, it indispensable accumulate astir 125,000 signatures. The effect of the vote, adjacent if it were to favour separation, would not beryllium legally binding.

Nadine Ness, the president of Unified Grassroots, disputed the accusation that the petition is strictly for separation. She said she personally would beryllium successful favour of separation, but that presumption isn't held by everyone wrong Unified Grassroots. She explicitly rejected joining the United States.

"It tin mean a cardinal antithetic things," she said of the petition, which says the referendum would beryllium to "empower the provincial authorities to negociate caller presumption for Saskatchewan's narration whether arsenic portion of Canada oregon arsenic an autarkic nation."

"It tin mean 100 antithetic steps earlier it goes to separation."

Among those steps were measures similar eliminating equalization payments, changing weapon laws and pledging electoral betterment to person senators beryllium elected by their respective provinces alternatively of being recommended by the premier minister. 

On Sunday, Unified Grassroots is holding a municipality hallway lawsuit astatine Prairieland Park successful Saskatoon. It is the archetypal of respective events the radical plans to clasp implicit the people of the summer.

Ness said the municipality halls are meant to beryllium listening sessions to larn astir people's grievances with the national government, and not straight related to the petition.

"Unified Grassroots is an enactment that we spot with adjacent ties to the Sask. Party," said Young, who has accused Moe of being deferential to the radical for governmental reasons. "They're retired determination doing organizing work."

Ness denied immoderate nonstop transportation betwixt her radical and the Sask. Party. 

In a statement, the Saskatchewan authorities accused the NDP of keeping separation astatine the apical of the agenda. 

"The NDP person done much to beforehand occidental separatism than anyone else," it said.

"While the NDP are focused connected condemning and silencing Saskatchewan residents, the Government of Saskatchewan is committed to ensuring that this state and the radical that unrecorded present are portion of a strong, united, increasing and prosperous Canada."