Premier Scott Moe has kicked his fight up another notch with the federal government and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
In a white paper last month, Moe — saying he is responding to the desires of constituents heard during summer town hall meetings — outlined four areas of action for his government.
- Clarifying constitutional rights;
- Getting more say over immigration policy;
- Developing Saskatchewan’s own carbon credit market and climate policy;
- Taking legal actions to maintain control of emissions in electricity, fertilizer, oil and gas.
This white paper is merely another in a 90-year-old serial of squabbles with the feds over control of resources and the provincial economy.
Voters should realize the Supreme Court of Canada has already ruled that the federal government has jurisdiction over climate change. More court action will only benefit the lawyers.
To back up his need for Saskatchewan to pursue these four goals, Moe uses data from a Saskatchewan Finance study.
The conclusion, according to Moe, states the province’s economy will lose $111 billion over the 13 years ended 2035.
That $8.5 billion a year amounts to an 11 per cent reduction annually.
This study is drastically different from two previous studies on the matter. A Freedom of Information request obtained a copy of a buried 2017 study showing the loss at $1.2 billion annually
In 2018 a University of Regina study found that federal climate change policies will cost the economy $1.8 billion a year.
What changed in four years to makes the losses almost five times greater?
Non-partisan observers have already criticized Moe’s math. His study has been described as “insane’’ and “incredibly weak.’’
No mention is made of the benefits from the federal carbon tax, averaging $500 a family his year. Based on 250,000 families in the province the rebates are at least $125 million and grow every year.
The policy to reduce chemical fertilizer use by 30 per cent is new, but the unpublished Saskatchewan Finance study could not have estimated benefits from this policy. Farmers can practice cover crop fertilizer as organic farmers have done for centuries and save money. And they can use new inexpensive seed technology to save money.
Moe’s white paper is riddled with wobbly math and inadequate research by his supposedly objective finance department.
His objectives line up with the delusional comments he made a year ago about changing Saskatchewan to a “nation within a nation’’ and he makes this province a national laughingstock.
Moe’s policy boils down to either a denial of climate change or a refusal to take climate change seriously. And it distracts from the real issues — inflation, affordability, health care and education funding to name a few.
Interestingly, Moe's white paper comes AFTER the new Alberta premier promised similar action on Ottawa. Once again he copies Alberta policies just as he did during the Covid-19 crisis.
Ron Walter can be reached at [email protected].
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
