REGINA - Government and Opposition members went back and forth in the Legislature this week over a new hot button issue: Saskatchewan’s plans to attend COP28 in Dubai.
COP28 is short for Conference of the Parties 28, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, happening Nov. 30 to Dec. 12. The Saskatchewan government is sending a contingent to the United Arab Emirates led by Premier Scott Moe, and is purchasing pavilion space at the event to promote the province.
But the price tag of $765,000 for that pavilion has come under fire from the Opposition, who have painted the whole trip as a glorified extravagant vacation. Opposition Leader Carla Beck dubbed it the “most expensive photo-op in Saskatchewan’s history by a country mile,” in a news release issued Wednesday.
The NDP are also claiming the estimated costs of flights, meals, hotel expenses, government salaries and so on could come to $61,000 a day.
But during Question Period on Wednesday, Minister of Trade and Export Development Jeremy Harrison fought back against claims the trip wasn't necessary.
“I can tell you what this government and this Premier are going to do, and that is stand up for the interests of the province of Saskatchewan, Mr. Speaker.
“And I can also tell you who will not be standing up for the interests of Saskatchewan: Justin Trudeau, Steven Guilbeault, and Jagmeet Singh, all of whom when they travel do nothing but attack our industries, do nothing but apologize for what we do in this province. If we are not out there, Mr. Speaker, telling our story with our companies, standing up for our industries, nobody else is going to.
"And all we have heard from the NDP on this, Mr. Speaker, is that they will shut down all of our international offices. They have committed to never leaving the province to support our industries and our companies internationally, Mr. Speaker…”
Harrison also pointed to previous comments from Nutana MLA Erika Ritchie saying the province should be at COP:
“Let me read this quote from their member for Nutana: ‘It’s also disappointing that our Premier did not see the importance of representing Saskatchewan at this international forum.’ What was that about? It was about COP.”
When Opposition Critic Aleana Young criticized the trip by saying Saskatchewan people “deserve investments in health care and cost of living, not million-dollar jet setting for the Premier and the minister to Dubai,” Harrison fired back:
“Exhibit A for why the NDP have no credibility. They have their member for Nutana standing up, demanding that we go to COP, Mr. Speaker… We now have this member standing up, outraged that we are going to the same event that they were demanding that we attend, Mr. Speaker. We are not going to apologize for going to COP.”
Later, Young ramped up the rhetoric by accusing the government of “taking a holiday to Dubai on the public dime,” and she characterized it as the ”most expensive trip in Saskatchewan history.”
Harrison responded, as recorded in Hansard:
“...That is the cost of having a pavilion at COP. I’m not sure what their plan was, Mr. Speaker, if they intended on just going, standing on the street corner, and yelling about how great Saskatchewan was.
"The reality is, Mr. Speaker, that we have a space where we’re going to be able to host 40 companies and institutions that are coming with the government to tell their story as well, Mr. Speaker, their story about how they are the most sustainable production of whatever industry they’re in, whether that be in the ag sector, whether that be in the mining sector, whether that be in the energy sector. These are going to be some of the biggest companies that operate in this province that are accompanying the government and are grateful for the opportunity to be there to tell their story, Mr. Speaker.
“We know the NDP hate that. We know what their position is. They’d shut down international offices. They’d never travel internationally. They’d never engage.”
In speaking to reporters afterwards, Harrison was peppered with questions on why the cost was justified for a pavilion at COP28.
“We are there to tell our story,” said Harrison. “There are going to be business leaders from around the world, there are governments from around the world, and our case that we have made around the world is that if you are looking to source sustainable long-term partnerships, for products that are produced as responsibly as anywhere on the planet, come to Saskatchewan. And this is a great place to tell that story.”
Harrison added that the government had been talking publicly about attending COP for two years and had met with the Emirates’ ministers about attending. “They were very, very excited about having that story told in the Emirates,” he said.
He also said their major trading partners were all going to be in attendance at COP, and a lot of major companies looking to make deals would be there as well.
Harrison got very animated with reporters as he insisted it was important Saskatchewan be there.
“Because I can tell you this, and I mean this. The government of Canada are not telling this story for us. Justin Trudeau and Steven Guilbeault are not going to COP to talk about sustainable energy production. They are not. No, they are not going to tell about how our production of energy, our production of uranium, our production of potash, our production of farm commodities is done more sustainably than anywhere in the world. They’re there to apologize for it and talk about how they’re going to shut that down.”
He said telling that story of “incredible Saskatchewan resourcefulness” and “ingenuity” and added “what it has resulted in is the largest export numbers we have ever seen, it has resulted in very real and significant job growth in this province, and ultimately, that’s what this is about, creating jobs here in Saskatchewan.”
In speaking to reporters, Opposition critic Young continued to be critical of the government for “the biggest expenditure on a trip that I know of in the history of the province. And it is eminently reasonable to expect a basic level of public scrutiny when we’re talking about $1 million for a single trip.”
“I think the average person would want to know that there’s a good value for money, and what we saw today was I think a lot of outrage that questions were even being asked about a very significant expenditure.”
Issue at Regina City Hall as well
COP28 was not just an issue at the Legislature. It was also an issue at Regina City Hall Wednesday which considered a motion on whether Mayor Sandra Masters would attend as part of the Saskatchewan contingent.
In the end, council voted 6-1 in favor of allowing the Mayor's trip. The city will not be on the hook for the cost; Mayor Masters said she is going on invitation from Economic Development Regina which has funding from the province.
"We want to tell the story of all the great work we do here, we want to talk about why we're important to the world, and from a Regina perspective we want to learn what others are doing, investigate new ideas around technology and frankly policies that folks are implementing for more sustainable communities, and to talk a little bit about some of our success here," said Masters.
When asked about the criticism over the costs of the travel, Masters said she compared it to advertising.
She said Zoom calls were "not particularly effective at promoting and advancing, and even learning in some respects because oftentimes you'll engage at different levels depending on who it is you're talking to... if you're going to learn what others are doing, you can't do that on a Zoom call. From a travel perspective, I will tell you that the cost of advertising would be north of half a million dollars to promote the city of Regina or to promote the province of Saskatchewan, if not into the millions."
"If you were intentional about wanting to attract, to meet, to allow people to get to know a little bit of where we're from and what we're about, there is no better way to do that than to show up in person and to answer questions, and to have presentations, and to allow people to get to know you -- that we are friendly, we're hard-working, we're a great community, we have really smart people that work here, and advancing that... I know it will be cheaper than a marketing campaign of the same scope to reach the number of countries that are going to be there."
