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Canada Has a Weapon in Trump’s Trade War. It’s Potash

American farmers need it. Let’s use that dependence to fight back

There are times in politics and government when leaders are faced with a fundamental, even primordial, choice. Either protect your partisan political interests or put them at risk for what can be argued is a greater public good. It’s called a test of leadership. At this moment, with Canada under direct economic assault by the United States, Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe is at that crossroads. How he acts will cement his political legacy.

To his credit, for more than the past year, Moe has elevated his national stature. His efforts to personally take the initiative in addressing trade tensions with India and China have not gone unnoticed. In June, the Globe and Mail acknowledged as much in a lengthy feature on how Saskatchewan’s “soft power” as a commodity exporter helped open trade diversification channels at a crucial time for Canada. Central to the effort was Moe.

“When Prime Minister Mark Carney traveled to Beijing in January to revamp economic ties with the world’s second-largest economy, one Canadian Premier went with him: Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe,” the Globe and Mail reported. “Six weeks later, Mr. Moe caught a plane with Mr. Carney to India. And he was in New Delhi’s palatial Hyderabad House to witness Tim Gitzel, chief executive of Saskatchewan uranium miner Cameco Corp., strike a long-delayed $2.6-billion supply agreement with the Indian government.”

The role has been a delicate balance for Moe. His Saskatchewan Party’s political base is very much rooted in rural Saskatchewan, where alienation with the federal government, especially a federal Liberal government, is deeply entrenched. In spite of that, Moe has nurtured a positive working relationship with Liberal prime minister Mark Carney and is seen as an influential voice around the table of first........

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