ESTEVAN — The Estevan Chamber of Commerce's latest Coffee Talk shed some light on the provincial government's Sask First Act.
Bronwyn Eyre, Saskatchewan's minister of Justice and Attorney General, was accompanied by Lori Carr, who is Estevan's MLA and minister of Highways and Infrastructure, on Oct. 4 to "unpack" the act for about 30 of Estevan's community leaders.
Eyre noted the act was passed in the spring, and it's being brought into formal force this fall. She said the act is "absolutely … constitutional", and even the federal government has acknowledged that.
"The Saskatchewan First Act asserts exclusive jurisdiction under section 92-A of the constitution of 1982 over natural resources. That is the exploration, the development, the conservation, the management and the production of those natural resources, including forestry, those are provincial jurisdiction," said Eyre.
"Facilities for the generation and production of electrical energy [are] also covered by 92-A of the constitution of 1982. That really is exclusive jurisdiction under our existing constitutional division of powers in this country. And under the constitution, of course, there are exclusive provincial powers, and there are exclusive federal powers. And under the constitution, we each have to stick to our own lane. And this act is about reasserting that lane.
"[Sask First Act] is about drawing the line. We felt it was important to explicitly assert that exclusive constitutional jurisdiction within our provincial constitution, and yes, we have one, and list what we consider to be our core provincial powers. And that's what's done in the Saskatchewan First Act."
Eyre underlined that the act is not about separation or "fed-bashing for fun". The act is also "not about a violation of treaties or a duty to consult with First Nations, those are enshrined and protected under the same constitution and also our own provincial legislation," Eyre said. But it is about "being treated as an honourable partner by the federal government when it comes to protecting that exclusive provincial jurisdiction."
"The provinces having exclusive jurisdiction over natural resources is not our language. It's the language of the constitution. And it's the language of division of powers under the constitution. And that's the same exclusive jurisdiction that we fought the carbon tax over. It's the same exclusive jurisdiction that we fought and are fighting Bill C-69 over," said Eyre.
"Exclusive jurisdiction under 92-A is for all provinces. And we feel that, in our case, it's important language when it comes to protecting economic growth, economic strength and opportunity for everyone in Saskatchewan."
She noted the Saskatchewan government felt the federal government continues to infringe on provincial exclusive jurisdiction and hurt provincial economic growth.
"The economic success that we have achieved in this province has been despite federal policies that have done real economic harm, and continue to and risk doing much more. And the kicker is that that economic harm is primarily being perpetrated on only one region of the country. And that's the west," Eyre said.
As an example, she touched on the power transition by the federal government, set to happen by 2035.
"The federal government wants to transition to no fossil fuel generated power by 2035. Literally impossible. According to SaskPower, as we know, not a lot of hydro in this province. SaskPower is bringing on more wind and solar all the time. But as SaskPower will tell you, there was a stretch last year, seven days, -40 C, and there was no wind for seven days," said Eyre.
"So, we all can recognize that there are issues when you start hedging too much one way or the other, you have to make sure there's that balance. So, at the very prescriptive rate that the federal government is setting, 2035 is going to be a very chilly year if we can't also use natural gas," Eyre said.
"So, we had to take a stand, and last spring, Premier Moe announced that we will reserve the right to run coal to the end of its natural life, and also use natural gas as we see fit to generate power."
Eyre added that she wrote to the federal Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson, saying that Saskatchewan was no longer going to collaborate on policies that infringe on provincial autonomy, provincial exclusive jurisdiction and harm the province economically.
She noted they are expecting a decision on Bill C-69 and will keep fighting the carbon tax, which keeps affecting affordability.
"We heard recently that the University of Regina's biggest cost increase was the carbon tax. So if that's the University of Regina, what about supply chain businesses?" Eyre said.
"The PBO [parliamentary budget officer] also reminded us that Saskatchewan producers will be paying $20 million in carbon tax for grain drying alone in 2030. And of course, we all know the supply chain effects of it, as it hits producers, they're paying a carbon tax every time product comes onto their farm, also, when it's shipped out, on inputs during seeding, harvesting, drying the grain, of course, and on utilities to process it. And that has a huge supply chain effect ...
She noted that the federal Department of Natural Resources acknowledges that some three million Canadians in the industrial workforce – which includes ag, food processing, oil and gas, mining, manufacturing and transportation – will face what the federal government called, in bureaucratic language, "significant disruptions" due to the Just Transition bill, and in only three provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
"This could impact 13.5 per cent of Canada's workforce. And the federal government has called just transition the new Industrial Revolution. But many of you have heard me say, the Industrial Revolution wasn't about turning off the lights, it wasn't about turning off the gas and driving people out of work, it was about going in the other direction.
"And when Ontario went down that road, in the 2010s, it cost the Ontario economy nearly 200,000 well-paying manufacturing jobs, while at most, creating 12,000 jobs in alternative energies. That's one job created for every six lost. And the auditor general of Ontario found that all that pain did nothing to reduce carbon emissions," Eyre said.
On the Sask First Act, there will be an independent economic tribunal this fall, Eyre said, and the provincial government plans to refer the federal policies to define, address and quantify the economic impact and harm of the federal policies on the province.
Eyre also took questions from guests and spoke more on the energy transition and its timeline, other provinces' progress with the transition, media coverage of the related issues, the affordability crisis and more.
Later in the day, she toured the Estevan Court House and learned more about the history of the building.
