75-Minute Debate (30 November 2023)

From Hansard (30 November 2023)

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Provincial Response to Federal Energy Policies

The Assembly was debating the following motion moved by Travis Keisig (Sask Party - Last Mountain-Touchwood):

That this Assembly calls upon the Government of Saskatchewan to continue with the broad efforts and years of government advocacy work which led to The Saskatchewan First Act, which will stand up for and assert Saskatchewan’s exclusive provincial jurisdiction over nonrenewable natural resources and the operation of sites and facilities for electrical energy production and generation; and further,

That this Assembly condemns the Liberal-NDP federal government’s proposed clean energy regulations, oil and gas cap, and the federal fuel standard as unconstitutional, uneconomical, and a clear violation of provincial rights.

Mr. Keisig: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s always a pleasure being on my feet as we enter into debate. I want to bring some comments forward about the economic assessment tribunal and put them on the record. I was very interested in learning the composition of the tribunal, and I genuinely think the Minister of Justice and cabinet did a fantastic job of putting together an informed, knowledgeable, and educated group of individuals from a cross-section of society. There’s lawyer Michael Milani, King’s Counsel, he’s the Chair; Dr. Janice MacKinnon, former politician and a university professor, Vice-Chair; Ken From, engineer and former CEO of SaskEnergy; and Dr. Stuart Smyth, a university professor in the department of agricultural and resource economics at the University of Saskatchewan.

Lastly I was honestly excited to see one person on the tribunal, someone I don’t know, but reading her biography I thought this was an excellent fit for this team. Estella Petersen is a heavy equipment operator working at Suncor in Fort McMurray. She’s originally from Cowessess First Nation, and the blue-collar perspective that she will bring to the tribunal will be invaluable. This province was built by people who work with their hands, and I am a strong advocate for all tradespeople. And appointing Estella Petersen to this tribunal shows all of Canada just how much this government respects our skilled workforce.

This will not be another government bureaucracy, Mr. Deputy Speaker. This will be an informed, educated, and knowledgeable board able to gather information and make recommendations. Their insights, knowledge, and broad base of lived experiences will be invaluable to the tribunal and beneficial to the people of Saskatchewan.

The Saskatchewan First Act is critically required now in this political environment. Our Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and his Environment minister, Steven Guilbeault, have aspirations that seem to have no end. Whether it’s the plastic ban, which the courts have ruled unconstitutional . . . And I’m going to practise a little bit of self-restraint right now, Mr. Deputy Speaker, because all of my colleagues know how much I despise paper straws. But, Mr. Deputy Speaker, the clean fuel standards, the clean electricity regulations, upcoming emission regulations on our oil and gas industry, fertilizer emission reductions — there is no boundary that they will not cross in their quest for environmental virtue-signalling supremacy.

Standing up for Saskatchewan is not a pointless crusade like the members opposite criticize us about, but is something that we have to do, Mr. Deputy Speaker. The federal government is missing so many economic opportunities to collaborate with Saskatchewan. We have so much to offer in this province, yet they prefer to hinder any growth for Western Canada. We cannot depend on the federal government to tell Saskatchewan’s story and we would not be doing our job if we did not advocate for all Saskatchewan residents.

The Federal Court ruling recently quashing the federal cabinet order that listed plastic manufactured items as being deemed toxic is a tremendous victory, showing that some disputes can be won.

There are two points, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that I really want to make crystal clear. Natural resource development and electrical generation are strictly under provincial purview. Our Constitution under section 92 is quite clear about this. There’s no legitimate reason why the federal government insists on — putting it bluntly, Mr. Deputy Speaker — putting its nose where it doesn’t belong. As a province we have stringent environmental standards that all of our energy producers and electrical generators adhere to, so that’s not the reason. It has to be purely political and primarily ideologically driven.

And that’s why The Saskatchewan First Act is so critically needed at this point in time to defend our industries, which have the highest environmental and social guidelines compared to anywhere else in the world. And protecting those industries, Mr. Deputy Speaker, it’s really about protecting Saskatchewan people.

I wonder why some federal politicians who have no interest in seeing Saskatchewan people succeed locally, nationally, and internationally dream up policies that adhere to their activist ideals. Well I do know a reason. I recall federal minister Gudie Hutchings stating the West should elect more Liberal MPs [Member of Parliament]. I guess that would be their reasoning.

Still, The Saskatchewan First Act can be used through our legal system to provide some form of checks and balances. The opposition members always say, I heard this while door knocking or I heard that, which is always negative toward this government, contrary to what I hear. I want to inform the members today that most are positive towards this government. We have issues we have to work on; there’s no debating that.

But most people cannot tolerate the overbearing federal coalition government. People are feeling the inflationary pressures resulting from terrible mismanagement of federal fiscal policies and feeling the real pain of federal environmental policy that does little to help the environment, but does a lot to destroy people’s disposable income.

The second point I want to bring forward, Mr. Deputy Speaker, is the importance of the economic assessment tribunal. These highly skilled appointees’ primary duty will be to answer the question that I always ask: what is the cost? Saskatchewan people need to be informed on what policy Y will cost amount X. This is critical to inform decision makers, policy proponents, and the general public. Everything we do has a cost. Let’s try to quantify what that cost will be.

The members opposite complain incessantly about affordability issues. They’re not wrong. I remember very clearly a former Saskatchewan minister of the Environment years ago making a statement that the carbon tax brought in by the federal Liberal government, fully supported by the NDP, will be inflationary and drive up the price of everything. Truer words have never been spoken. We are living through those repercussions right now.

In hindsight, if the economic tribunal had been around, could they have looked at this policy and informed the people that these would be the consequences of that policy? Would people have voted for it, Mr. Deputy Speaker?

On Tuesday the Minister of Justice spoke in her ministerial statement about having the economic tribunal assess the federally imposed clean electricity standards. This was great news to hear. Their report will be interesting to read. But just from anecdotal evidence the Premier’s statement about running our coal-fired electrical generating fleet that’s end-of-life will provide Saskatchewan ratepayers with millions of dollars of savings on their power bills.

Saskatchewan people invested in these facilities and we need to recoup that full investment to its total value. Our new natural gas generating facilities, which typically have a lifespan of over 40 years, would have to be shut down by 2035 according to the existing federal regulations, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

The federal government gives a long explanation stating that that’s incorrect. Jurisdictions can run them as so-called peaker plants to back up the unreliable renewables, but the costs would be very high. Not running facilities to their full potential is very cost prohibitive. They are also demanding carbon capture technology be added to these facilities which is . . . No gas plant in the world has had any of that done before, and it would add more expense to these plants which has to be passed on to the end consumer, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Our society, businesses, and industries need an affordable electrical grid to remain competitive on the global stage. Saskatchewan has a role to play in renewable electrical generation like wind and solar, but these present challenges. Their inherent unreliability requires electrical generators to have backup capacity in place to maintain base load generating capability.

Many of the products we grow, mine, and produce here are sold internationally, and we must do as much as we can as a government to keep our production costs low for all of our stakeholders. This government has a vision to be net zero by 2050. We cannot put Saskatchewan people at risk. We cannot risk the affordability and reliability of our provincial power grid to attempt to appease the federal government’s unrealistic targets to achieve their clean electricity regulations.

We are very interested in new emission-free nuclear technology like the small modular reactor currently under construction in Darlington. But we have to balance the reality of this. It’s the first commercial SMR [small modular reactor] being built anywhere in the world. It’s projected to be producing electricity by 2029, with the reality we need power now, each and every day.

We will continue monitoring Ontario’s power generation progress and look forward to its successful completion. The economic tribunal will have the opportunity to look at the big picture and delve into the costs and how they will affect Saskatchewan people, businesses, and industries, Mr. Deputy Speaker. The Saskatchewan First Act is necessary to defend Saskatchewan interests and the economic assessment tribunal is critical to quantify the costs associated with all policy directions.

There are amazing things happening in our First Nations community in the energy sector, the forestry sector, and the mining sector. Thirty per cent of Saskatchewan’s timber harvest is allocated to Indigenous businesses, the highest proportion of any province. Saskatchewan has the only 100 per cent ownedand-operated First Nations saw mill in Canada, NorSask Forest Products.

No one wants to jeopardize any of that. We want to protect this work and the fantastic things happening in First Nations communities all across the province. We cannot stress this enough. The Saskatchewan First Act will protect all of Saskatchewan’s interests.

I just want to talk for a second about a NexGen uranium project that recently received ministerial approval on November 8th. My colleague did a member’s statement on it. This project is enormous for Saskatchewan and for Canada. It will be the largest uranium mining project when it comes online. This mine could produce over 23 per cent of the world’s uranium in the first few years of production. This is a great story to be told, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Unfortunately the federal government is choosing yet again to stand in the way of another economic opportunity for the province, especially in northern Saskatchewan, First Nations and Métis people. As the member from Athabasca mentioned yesterday in his member’s statement, this project has the potential to create tons of jobs and provide access to education opportunities for First Nations, Métis Nation, and other communities. It will help strengthen all local communities.

The federal government needs to do what is right and approve this project. Infringing on economic opportunities for Saskatchewan people seems to be the federal government’s new hobby. We are hopeful that the federal government will do the right thing and see this project through its final stages.

I’m running low on time, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and I want to end my comments on one last note. I was watching the national news the other night, and there was a story about charitable donations in Canada. Historically around 36 per cent of the population donates to a charity, and that has dropped dramatically to around 28 per cent. This is a very sad statistic as we enter the holiday season when most people typically think about donating to charities.

I really believe that this is a symptom of the federal government’s consistent overreach on taxing energy, and how that affects every person across the province and across the country. Energy is life. Our modern society requires it. No one wants to take a step backward in time and go without it. Taxing energy, in whatever form it’s in, disproportionately affects our seniors, our young people, and our low-income earners.

I’ve said this dozens of times in this Chamber, Mr. Deputy Speaker: taxing people to heat their homes in this country is morally wrong. And this government, Mr. Deputy Speaker, will always stand up for Saskatchewan people, businesses, and industries no matter who governs in Ottawa.

I want to thank the Premier for his vision moving forward; the Minister of Justice for implementing The Saskatchewan First Act, building the tribunal and that team and bringing that all together. And I want to thank all of my caucus colleagues for their unwavering support of this government, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

I’m going to read the motion into the record now:

That this Assembly calls upon the Government of Saskatchewan to continue with the broad efforts and years of government advocacy work which led to The Saskatchewan First Act, which will stand up for and assert Saskatchewan’s exclusive provincial jurisdiction over nonrenewable natural resources and the operation of sites and facilities for electrical energy production and generation; and further,

That this Assembly condemns the Liberal-NDP federal government’s proposed clean electricity regulations, oil and gas cap, and federal fuel standards as unconstitutional, uneconomical, and a clear violation of provincial rights.

I do so submit, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

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Mr. Clarke: — Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Could the member for Last Mountain-Touchwood clarify the meaning of government advocacy work, as mentioned in the motion? By advocacy, do they mean complaining about the federal government on Twitter or ignoring First Nations until they filed a lawsuit?

Mr. Keisig: — Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Government advocacy on this side means standing up for our industry, standing up for our agricultural producers, standing up for our miners, for our energy workers, standing up for them and selling what we make in Saskatchewan to the world. And our Premier’s going to be standing up in Dubai doing just that. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

. . .

Mr. Teed: — Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to pose my question to the member from Last MountainTouchwood. I want to ask if he remembers all the times we have debated clean energy regulations, carbon tax in this Assembly. And if so, in the face of so many issues facing Saskatchewan people — cost of living, health care, education — why did he think this was an appropriate debate topic to pose for this Assembly again?

Mr. Keisig: — Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. And I thank the member opposite for the question. These debates are absolutely critical for everyone in this province because energy touches every facet of our lives, touches every facet of our industries, and touches every facet of everything we produce in this province and sell to the rest of the world. So these debates are critical, and we will never stop debating the issues that are relevant to Saskatchewan people. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

. . .

Ms. A. Young: — Thank you very much, Mr. Deputy Speaker. To the member from Last Mountain-Touchwood: there’s been a lot of talk about energy and power generation in this Assembly. So I’m wondering if he can share, has his government made the decision to proceed with small modular reactors and nuclear power as part of Saskatchewan’s energy future?

Mr. Keisig: — Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and thank the member opposite for the question. This government is focused on educating ourselves and making decisions for the benefit of the whole province. We haven’t made a hard decision yet, Mr. Deputy Speaker, but it is definitely on our radar. We are very aware of what’s going on in Ontario. We’re following what’s happening there and we’re looking forward to seeing their project complete, on time and under budget. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

. . .

Ms. A. Young: — Thank you very much, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Another great question about Saskatchewan’s power future and generation. To the member from Last Mountain-Touchwood: is he aware of the current state of the hundreds of millions of dollars that are sitting maybe in abeyance with the federal government as a result of the output space performance system? Has this government in fact executed an agreement with the federal government to ensure that those dollars are returned to Saskatchewan taxpayers?

Mr. Keisig: — Thank the member opposite for the question. These negotiations are ongoing. We will always support industry. We will support SaskPower and all of the good work they’re doing. And we will never, never back down on the reliability of our electrical grid that each and every Saskatchewan person relies on. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

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