A new national survey that asked people whether they wanted their provinces to do more to develop an identity separate from Canada found the most common preference in Saskatchewan was to keep things as they are.
Results of the Confederation for Tomorrow survey, released Thursday, suggest 40 per cent of Saskatchewan residents hold that opinion, while 24 said the province should do more to distinguish itself from Canada and 20 per cent think it should do less. Another 15 per cent responded that they couldn’t say.
The poll surveyed 5,461 total adults in all 13 provinces and territories online and by phone, including 422 Saskatchewan residents, in January and February.
Nationally, about one in five Canadians agree that their province should be doing more to develop a separate identity from the rest of the country. But almost as many say their province should be doing the opposite.
Almost a quarter of Saskatchewan residents want their province to do more to develop a separate identity from the rest of Canada, according to the new Confederation for Tomorrow survey. (Environics Institute for Survey Research)
Saskatchewan saw the biggest growth rate among the provinces in wanting more efforts to have a separate identity, twice as high today than when residents were last asked the same question in 1991, according to the Environics Institute for Survey Research.
Meanwhile, half as many Quebec respondents feel that more emphasis should be placed on developing a separate identity compared to roughly 30 years ago.
‘Nation within a nation’
The report was framed around Premier Scott Moe’s “nation within a nation” comments in the fall, said Environics Institute executive director Andrew Parkin.
In November, Moe said he wanted the province to be a “nation within a nation” by increasing autonomy.
Moe was “referring to Saskatchewan taking greater control of its own economic sovereignty, especially when it is threatened by actions and policies of the federal government,” Moe’s press secretary wrote in an email to CBC News on Wednesday.
“Premier Moe continues to hear strong support for that objective among Saskatchewan people.”
Moe also said at the time that he was “not talking about separation,” but about “being a Saskatchewan cultural identity within the nation of Canada.”
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said in the fall that he wanted the province to be a ‘nation within a nation’ by increasing its autonomy in several areas, including policing, taxation and immigration. (Matt Duguid/CBC News)
Two Prairie-based political parties that have advocated for western independence endorsed Moe’s message, including the Maverick Party, formerly Wexit Canada.
“The notion that Saskatchewan’s identity should become more distinct or more separate or go in a different direction from the rest of the country was something that caught our attention,” Parkin said in an interview with CBC News on Wednesday.
Lack of momentum
Few Saskatchewan survey respondents (17 per cent) strongly agreed that their province has a distinct culture that is often misunderstood by people living in the rest of Canada.
Saskatchewan residents, along with residents of seven other provinces, were more likely to identify as Canadian only or first, rather than with their province only or first, the survey results said. Provincial identity predominates only in Quebec and in Newfoundland and Labrador, according to the survey.
“I think the purpose here is not really to keep score or to say whether the premier was right or not, but to see which way the winds are blowing,” Parkin said.
“I don’t think that you can see a lot of momentum around this. I don’t think you can see the country really pulling apart any further around this question of identity.”
Ken Coates, a public policy professor at the University of Saskatchewan, agreed.
“The reality is that people in Saskatchewan are proud Canadians. They might be frustrated Canadians, they might even be angry Canadians, but they’re still Canadians,” Coates said.
University of Saskatchewan professor Ken Coates said Saskatchewan residents still identify as Canadians despite grievances with the federal government. (Jason Warick/CBC)
The Environics Institute for Survey Research collaborated with the Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation, the Canada West Foundation, the Centre D’Analyse Politique – Constitution et Fédéralisme, and the Brian Mulroney Institute of Government on the research.
There is no margin of error for the results, as most of the survey was conducted with an online panel. The respondents were weighted by province and territory, age, gender, education, immigration background, language, and Indigenous identity.
High support for shifting federal powers to Sask. govt
Many Saskatchewan survey respondents supported shifting federal powers to the provinces, with 39 per cent saying they prefer that their government “take charge of many of the things the federal government does right now.”
Coates said this highlights that the federal government is not representing Saskatchewan interests, noting that there are no Saskatchewan MPs in the Liberal Party.
However, Coates questioned what specific federal responsibilities the provincial government would be able to take on.
Sixteen per cent of Saskatchewan respondents said they support a shift in the other direction — for the federal government to take charge of provincial portfolios — while 23 per cent of respondents supported leaving things the way they are and 22 per cent couldn’t say.
There was also high support for shifting federal powers to the provinces in Alberta (44 per cent) and Quebec (37 per cent).
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Darcy Kuemper made 16 saves for his first shutout of the season and 32nd overall, helping the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators 3-0 on Monday night.
Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist and Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala also scored. The Kings have won two of their last three.
Juuse Saros made 24 saves for the Predators. They are 1-2-1 in their last four.
Kopitar opened the scoring with 6:36 remaining in the opening period. Saros denied the Kings captain’s first shot, but Kopitar collected the rebound below the goal line and banked it off the netminder’s skate.
Fiala, a former Predator, made it 2-0 35 seconds into the third.
The Kings held Nashville to just three third-period shots on goal, the first coming with 3:55 remaining and Saros pulled for an extra attacker.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Monday:
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DEVILS 3 OILERS 0
EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his NHL career, helping the New Jersey Devils close their western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored. The Devils improved to 8-5-2. They have won three of their last four after a four-game skid.
Calvin Pickard made 13 saves for Edmonton. The Oilers had won two straight.
