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Veteran politician Buckley Belanger says he didn't have much advice for Premier Mark Carney about Saskatchewan politics and the often tense relationship between the province and the federal government.
The MP for Denete-Missinipi-Churchill River was the only Liberal elected in Saskatchewan in the 2025 federal election. In May, Carney appointed him Secretary of State for Rural Development..
“I think the prime minister probably had more information about Saskatchewan in general than I did because the guy studies a lot of these places that he deals with,” Belanger told CBC about his first year in parliament.
Belanger described Carney as a “complex thinker” with a clear message.
“When you sit in the same room with him, he makes it very easy to understand what we need to do as a country,” Belanger said.
He credits Carney's leadership for improving relations between Saskatchewan and Ottawa, which Premier Scott Moe also acknowledged this.
“The Prime Minister recognized, and I was very glad he did because it saved me some work, the fact that Saskatchewan has a lot to offer… and I think the Premier wants to build on that,” Belanger said.
“This relationship dictates that we all have an interest in strengthening Saskatchewan’s role in Canada.”
Belanger was involved in some of the biggest events of 2025 through his work on domestic and international trade as Secretary of State for Rural Development, as well as his work in the Northern Saskatchewan constituency during one of the worst wildfire seasons on record.
He met with evacuees and visited northern communities affected by forest fires. He thanked fire departments across Canada who sent crews and equipment to the Prairie provinces to help.
“We know these fires will continue to happen year after year… and that's why the minister [of Emergency Management and Community Resilience Eleanor] Olszewski is doing an analysis of how we react, respond to and prepare for these fires,” Belanger said.
“There is also a commitment in the budget for a fleet of water bombers. I think we are looking at bringing in up to three water bombers to address this particular problem.”
Belanger said he sees rural Canada playing a significant role in a retooled economy that is less reliant on U.S. trade partnerships, but acknowledged there are “infrastructure issues, such as the backlog at the Port of Vancouver,” that need to be addressed to strengthen international trade.
In Saskatchewan he pointed out Foran Mining's McIlvenna Bay Project it's on the Liberal government's list of nation-building projects, as well as the agricultural and potash and uranium industries as ways Saskatchewan can contribute to the new “one Canadian economy” envisioned by Carney.
“Rural Canada is home to 13 percent of our country's population, yet it accounts for 27 percent of the GDP we enjoy as a country,” Buckley said.
“So rural Canada is really making a difference.”
