LILLEY: Scott Moe and Saskatchewan deserve respect and understanding, not ridicule.

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There is an old cartoon called The Milch Cow that sums up how Western Canadians feel about how they are treated by power brokers in the East.

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It shows a cow being fed by farmers in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, while businessmen in top hats milk it in buckets labeled Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal.

The cartoon was first published in December 1915, but the sentiment lives on today.

Take the reaction to Saskatchewan Prime Minister Scott Moe, who says he wants more autonomy for his province and for it to be treated as a nation within a nation. Moe made the comment, an extension and expansion of ideas he had championed earlier, while appearing on the Roy Green Show last Sunday.

“We are really starting to feel the differences between Saskatchewan and where our federal government is going, is that right now we are really … more like a nation within Canada,” Moe said.

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He was discussing the Trudeau government’s moves at the COP26 summit in Glasgow to unilaterally announce strict caps on greenhouse gas emissions without consultation, but his frustration with Ottawa runs broader than just that issue. And his frustration is not new to those who have been paying attention.

“In light of the federal government’s continuing attacks on our economy, particularly our energy sector, our government needs to affirm and protect Saskatchewan’s economic sovereignty,” Moe told me by email Thursday.

“This would not be necessary if we could count on our federal government to advance Saskatchewan’s economic interests. But we can not “.

Moe wants more powers for his province over immigration, policing, taxes, responsible firearms policy and international relations. All the powers that Quebec wields today, in fact Ontario wields many of them as well.

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CBC tried to dismiss this push for a Quebec-like deal as ill-timed because of Saskatchewan’s COVID efforts – a distraction from Moe’s failures, so to speak. Quebec was Canada’s disaster zone in the first wave of COVID-19, its death rate per 100,000 is almost double that of Saskatchewan, but you wouldn’t listen to the argument that Quebec shouldn’t have the powers that it does.

Globe and Mail columnist Gary Mason may be based in Vancouver, but he writes for the voice of the Toronto establishment, and his column appropriately despised Moe, as did the Globe’s Andrew Coyne. Canada’s system doesn’t like it when one of these upstarts on the prairie asks to be treated fairly.

It is the same reaction when Alberta makes similar demands or when the famous Firewall Letter is used as an abbreviation to denigrate a Western politician or the ideas they are proposing. I mean, imagine allowing a province to have a provincial police service instead of using the RCMP. Sure, Ontario and Quebec have that, but they are different, special.

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And who could help the provinces raise more of their own tax revenue? Well, apart from all the recognized parties in the House of Commons right now, they all support giving Quebec more tax powers, it was a problem in the last election.

Canada is supposed to be a federation of provinces coming together to allow the federal government to handle the things that suit them best as well. However, people in eastern Canada tend to view the prairies as still territories, not equal partners; He is like the little brother that you won’t let grow up.

It is a point of view that is quite prevalent in the current federal government and is reflected in its policies and attitudes towards the West.

So instead of firing people like Prime Minister Moe when they talk about their frustrations, our establishment experts and our elected leaders could try to understand where the frustration is coming from. Instead, they downplay any concerns that arise west of the Ontario border as they jump in to secure Quebec at all times.

That is a recipe for a future crisis of national unity.

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