Western premiers blast Lametti for suggesting Ottawa might ‘look at’ provinces’ power over natural resources – by Elizabeth Thompson (CBC News Political – April 11, 2023)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/

Lametti told an AFN meeting he would examine calls to rescind Natural Resources Transfer Act

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and three western premiers are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to disassociate his government from comments made by his justice minister — who promised last week to “look at” a decades-old law that gives control over natural resources to the four western provinces.

“The federal government cannot unilaterally change the Constitution,” the premiers of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba said in a joint statement Tuesday. “It should not even be considering stripping resource rights away from the three Prairie provinces.

“The prime minister needs to immediately retract these dangerous and divisive comments by his justice minister.” Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre accused Justice Minister David Lametti of threatening to overturn the Constitution and take federal control over provincial resources.

“I’ll never allow this attack by the costly coalition on our Prairie resource workers,” Poilievre tweeted. “I’ll put westerners in control of their resources and lives.” Poilievre’s tweet prompted Lametti to shoot back.

For the rest of this article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/natural-resources-indigenous-provinces-1.6807043