The Prime Minister is coming to Saskatchewan next week, but Premier Brad Wall is not even sure if he will get a chance to meet with him to discuss a number of issues of concern.
Justin Trudeau will meet with 11 chiefs and council members of the File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council next Tuesday.He will also tour a safe shelter for women in Fort Qu’appelle, but a meeting with Brad Wall is not yet on the agenda.
“I don’t know that yet. We have certainly indicated a willingness to meet, but we don’t know that yet,” Premier Brad Wall said on Wednesday.
The visit is the Prime Minister’s first since last fall’s federal election, aside from a quick trip to La Loche. Wall says he was made aware of the trip late last week.
He says he does have a number of things he would like to discuss if he gets the chance.
“We would want to talk about the employment insurance benefits expansion it should include our oil industry, we would want to talk about a pipeline or two,” he said.
“I believe he is meeting with First Nations groups and they have made some very good commitments about the closing the gap between on reserve and off reserve education funding and we would want to talk about that.”
While the premier doesn’t have a meeting yet, some major media outlets including the CBC and Canadian Press were unaware the Prime Minister was even coming to Saskatchewan next week.
He is scheduled to hold a news conference in the TIPI at the Treaty Four Governance Centre in Fort Qu’Appelle next Tuesday evening, but the deadline for media accreditation passed on Monday.