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CBC
01-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
Saskatchewan is now carbon tax free, but some wonder the cost
Saskatchewan industrial carbon pricing system is set to end Tuesday, but the province has so far been unable to provide a clear answer on the financial consequences of the decision. Saskatchewan's system is known as the Output-Based Performance Standards (OBPS) program and taxes large industrial emitters. NDP finance critic Trent Wotherspoon says the $12-million surplus projected in the province's 2025-2026 budget is now gone and the document "isn't worth the paper it was printed on." In its 2025-2026 budget, the province projected $431 million in revenue from its OBPS program. With that program paused, the state of the province's finances are unclear. "Twelve minus 432 does not equal balance," Wotherspoon said on Monday. End of the industrial carbon tax Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is touting Tuesday as " Carbon Tax Freedom Day." While all of Canada is marking the end of the federal price on consumer carbon on April 1, Saskatchewan made the additional decision to end its industrial carbon pricing on the same date. "The people of the province, our governments have been very vocal from the start, being opposed to the carbon tax. So we were thrilled to have the opportunity to do what we did last week," Saskatchewan Finance Minister Jim Reiter said on Monday. Moe and the Saskatchewan Party have been quick to share statements from organizations celebrating the end of the OBPS program. Daryl Fransoo, the chair of the Wheat Growers Association, described farmers as the backbone of the province's economy and said they have been hit hard by trade disruptions and tariffs. "This decision puts money back into farmers pockets," Fransoo said. Other organizations like the Saskatchewan Farm Stewardship Association, Mosaic Canada, the Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association and the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities have also released statements endorsing the decision. WATCH| Sask. Premier Scott Moe to pause industrial carbon tax: Sask. Premier Scott Moe to pause industrial carbon tax 5 days ago Duration 3:10 The decision has not come without criticism. Brett Dolter, an associate professor of economics at the University of Regina, told CBC News last week that the decision eliminates two of the three pillars central to the 2017 Saskatchewan climate change strategy, entitled Prairie Resilience. With the end of the industrial carbon emissions tax and the decision to extend the lives of its coal-fired power plants, moving away from clean electricity goals, Dolter said the province is steering away from reducing its emissions. The province's decision also doesn't end the ability for the federal government to implement its own industrial carbon pricing or "backstop." Financial impact Since Moe announced the policy change last week, no one from the government has been able to provide a clear answer on the financial impacts of the decision. Moe refused to provide a yes or no answer when asked whether the move puts Saskatchewan in a deficit. Reiter also wouldn't provide a yes or no response. "The fact is that on any given day commodity prices rise and and fall. It all has an impact on the budget. So we're not going to rewrite the budget every time something like that happens," Reiter said. Reiter stuck to his answer when it was pointed out that he was describing market factors and not a decision made by the provincial government. Wotherspoon said the lack of clarity is infuriating. "Whether or not he's just incompetent or he's not being honest with Saskatchewan people, he has to know that what he's presented to Saskatchewan people is not only nonsense, but also that it fails to step up to the challenges that they face," Wotherspoon said.
CBC
17-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
Terminating the consumer carbon tax only 'a step in the right direction,' province says
Social Sharing The Saskatchewan government believes the decision to scrap the federal consumer carbon tax is a "step in the right direction" but wants the entire pricing scheme to be eliminated. In a brief statement issued Monday, the provincial government said they're calling for the federal government to do more. "The Prime Minister still needs to eliminate the other of half of the carbon tax that is charged on industry and indirectly paid by consumers," the statement says. On Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney signed a ministerial directive that the fuel charge be removed effective April 1 and that the month's carbon rebates go ahead as planned. Premier Scott Moe has been an opponent of the federal program since it was implement by former prime minister Justin Trudeau in 2019. Under Moe, Saskatchewan participated in an unsuccessful challenge of the pricing scheme. WATCH| Canada developing a 'targeted response' to replace 'divisive' carbon tax: minister Canada developing a 'targeted response' to replace 'divisive' carbon tax: minister 2 hours ago Duration 14:46 In his first act in office, Prime Minister Mark Carney ordered the controversial consumer carbon tax to be eliminated in April. Now, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he'd kill the industrial carbon tax, too. Power & Politics hears from Industry Minister Anita Anand on Ottawa's plan to replace the carbon tax — and the idea of slashing the industrial tax. Since 2024, Saskatchewan has refused to charge the carbon tax on home heating and also chose not to remit those funds to the federal government. The legal dispute over that dispute is still making its way through the federal courts. Saskatchewan's Official Opposition greeted the end of the carbon with a simple statement last week. "Great. Finally," Carla Beck said. On Monday, the Saskatchewan NDP leader expanded even further, saying the writing has been on the wall for the carbon tax for awhile. Now, Beck said, it's important to focus "on the future, to look to what investments we need to be making in this country to ensure that we're not overly dependent on the United States any longer and also to take advantage of markets beyond beyond North America and to be able to get our goods to markets." . Darcy Pawlik, the executive director of the Wheat Growers Association, says the organization has always been opposed to the carbon-pricing scheme implemented by the federal government. "Now that it has been suspended for some unknown period of time, we remain suspicious of what could come next since no plan has been shared," Pawlik said. Pawlik says the association believes any tax that increases the cost of production will be passed along, eventually raising the cost of food. Carbon pricing has "perversely" harmed food producers, Pawlik said, "so at least today we don't see how farmers or anyone else will benefit at all."
