Legislative Report
(13 June 2019)

Standing Against Harmful Federal Bills

Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and the Northwest Territories recently sent a letter to the Prime Minister calling for two things: his government to accept the Senate’s amendments to Bill C-69; and not to pass Bill C-48.

Bill C-69 “the no more pipelines bill” and Bill C-48 “the no more oil tankers bill” are two incredibly divisive pieces of legislation.

C-69, as originally drafted, would make it impossible to develop critical infrastructure and deprive Canada of much-needed investment. C-48 threatens investor confidence, and the tanker moratorium discriminates against western Canadian crude products.

On Bill C-69, Senate amendments could have avoided the most damaging effects of the bill on our energy and industrial sectors. Unfortunately, Prime Minister Trudeau and his government have rejected the advice of six Canadian Premiers representing 59 per cent of Canada’s population, as well as the advice of the Canadian Senate.

In rejecting these amendments to Bill C-69, the Prime Minister has turned his back on sectors that employ hundreds of thousands of Canadians and generate wealth that benefits the entire nation. His response suggesting Premiers are acting “irresponsibly” on national unity, is not the response we had hoped for. After all, it is the Prime Minister’s divisive policies threatening the economic well-being of our nation.

As it stands, the federal government appears indifferent to the economic hardships faced by provinces and territories. Immediate action to refine or eliminate these bills is needed to avoid further alienating provinces and territories and their citizens.

Your Saskatchewan Party government will continue to stand with our partners in Confederation to defend Canada’s energy sector against the economically devastating Bill C-69. We will also stand against other harmful federal policies including what we believe is an unconstitutional tax on families, communities and businesses.

Reducing Emissions Without Federal Carbon Tax

Saskatchewan’s Constitutional Law Branch has filed a notice of appeal with the Supreme Court of Canada that will see our case against the carbon tax taken to the highest court of our nation. The Government of Saskatchewan now has a two-month window to file the province’s factum to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Meanwhile, our government’s Prairie Resilience plan is designed to achieve actual greenhouse gas reductions by 2030. Despite the imposition of the ineffective federal carbon tax, the Government of Saskatchewan is working to develop a carbon offset framework that accounts for economic growth, competitiveness and trade exposure.

Our government is committed to designing an offset program that best serves the needs of the province. With input from Saskatchewan industries, associations, producer groups and other diverse stakeholders, we can design a system that extends to all sectors to help the province shift to a lower-carbon economy.

Saskatchewan’s Prairie Resilience climate change strategy includes more than 40 commitments across five areas, designed to reduce emissions and strengthen Saskatchewan’s resilience to the climatic, economic and policy impacts of climate change. The Prairie Resilience strategy is available at saskatchewan.ca/climate-change.

Despite economic headwinds and harmful federal policies, Saskatchewan continues to show signs of economic strength. For the tenth consecutive month Saskatchewan has more people working in the province than it did a year ago. Saskatchewan has gained 14,800 new full-time jobs over the last year. Our government will continue to stand up for Saskatchewan to ensure our resiliency and strong growth continues.

Past Legislative Reports