Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says he is ready to take legal action over federal pollution regulations.
Posted at 7:50 p.m.
Mr. Moe points out that Canada’s environmental policies are causing economic damage to his province and creating hardship for farmers and natural resource workers among others.
A cost analysis from Saskatchewan’s Department of Finance indicates that the province could lose $111 billion by 2035 as a result of federal environmental policies.
The Saskatchewan Party government has outlined a policy and the measures it intends to take to maintain control of electricity and emissions from the production of fertilizers and oil and gas.
It also includes a bill to clarify the province’s constitutional rights and exercise better control over its immigration.
“We respect the Constitution that we have in this country. But [le projet de loi] will most certainly reaffirm our provincial jurisdiction that we have and ultimately provide us with that opportunity and certainty to move forward and develop some of the most sustainably productive industries on Earth,” Moe said.
There will be an opportunity to work with Alberta on the bill, Moe added, as Premier Danielle Smith has promised to introduce sovereignty legislation this fall to affirm Alberta’s constitutional rights.
Moe released the policy paper, “Drawing the Line: Defending Saskatchewan’s Economic Self-Reliance” at a Chamber of Commerce dinner in North Battleford.
He was backed by Tim McMillan, former president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, a Calgary-based oil and gas lobby group.
Mr. Moe argued that Canada’s Impact Assessment Act, which allows the government to assess the environmental impacts of projects on federal lands before they go ahead, is an intrusion of ‘Ottawa.
“The situation has been exacerbated in recent years by the current federal government’s continued interference in the province’s jurisdiction over natural resources under the guise of federal environmental regulation,” Moe said Tuesday.
“It is time to defend and affirm Saskatchewan’s economic self-reliance by ‘drawing the line’: taking a number of steps, including the introduction of provincial legislation to clarify and protect the constitutional rights of Saskatchewan. »
Resource boom
Saskatchewan is poised to receive further investment and opportunity, Moe said, and he doesn’t want to see that disrupted by Ottawa.
The province continues to experience a resource boom in potash, uranium and petroleum fueled by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and global supply issues. In the first three months of the year, Saskatchewan pulled in nearly $2 billion from potash and oil, enough to balance the province’s budget for the first time since 2014-15.
“Every step we take from here […] relate to Saskatchewan. And they’re about the opportunity we have in this province to grow and prosper, to attract investment and, ultimately, to reinvest in our communities,” said Moe.
Under the Constitution, natural resources fall primarily within provincial jurisdiction, said Dwight Newman, a law professor at the University of Saskatchewan.
“The complication is that the federal government has jurisdiction that can overlap that. And on some types of environmental legislation, that can end up affecting resources,” Newman said.
If disputes between the federal and provincial governments cannot be resolved through negotiation, it must be decided by the courts, he said.
This has been done with Canada’s Impact Assessment Act, which allows the government to assess the environmental impacts of projects on federal lands before they go ahead.
In May, Alberta’s highest court declared the law unconstitutional, but the federal government plans to appeal. Saskatchewan had participated in the legal reference in favor of its western neighbor and Mr. Moe indicated that Saskatchewan would intervene if it were to go to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Mr. Moe’s announcement on Tuesday that he is ready to sue “certainly indicates a possible willingness to pursue constitutional challenges or support others in pursuing constitutional challenges regarding federal legislation that creates problems,” Mr. Newman said.
“If it points to anything beyond that, it’s hard to know,” he added.
Saskatchewan has previously challenged the federal government over the constitutionality of carbon pricing, but lost after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Ottawa was acting within its jurisdiction.
Moe’s policy paper also includes previously announced initiatives, including pursuing greater control over the province’s immigration and developing its own carbon credit program.