Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe spoke with Global News’ Brenden Purdy, covering hot topics in the province.
This is Part 2 of their sitdown. The first one can be found here, where they discussed education.
In the rest of their discussion, Moe and Purdy talk about emissions, inflation and the upcoming election.
Purdy: Now, switching gears up here a little bit, you’ve often said that the federal government’s net zero emissions target of 2035 is unattainable here in Saskatchewan. Why is that?
Moe: Well, that’s SaskPower’s words and not necessarily the government’s. When you look at the mix of how we produce power in this province today, there is no way for us to get to a net zero mix of power generation by the year 2030. SaskPower has said that it is unattainable, we can’t achieve it. And I think Ontario Power Generation has said something similar here about 94 per cent of the way there today.
And so, what does our power generation look like into the future? One, it is going to have to look like a power that is made reliably and affordably in this province and yes, is going to be made with a lower emissions profile than what we have today. So that’s going to mean a moderated transition to, yes, some renewables and nuclear power in the province, ensuring that we’re doing so in a way that is utilizing the assets that we have so that power remains affordable for industries that we’re attracting, potash industry, mining industries, canola crushing industries, that’s who employs people in our communities, but also affordable for Saskatchewan families.
Purdy: Now, what has changed over the last week since the feds announced to cap oil and gas sector emissions by 35 to 38 per cent by 2030?
Moe: I think nothing has changed. What you’ve seen is a federal government that continues to attempt at least to intrude in areas of provincial jurisdiction. We have now had five policies that the federal government has put out that impact our oil and gas industry in Saskatchewan: carbon tax, clean electricity regulations, the clean fuel standard, now the methane cap, and now a cap and trade. No other oil industry in the world is operating under that type of regulatory pressure and regulatory frequency.
And again, I would say that in Saskatchewan, our oil industry, if the rest of the world produced a product like ours with the same regulatory, same carbon footprint that we have, global emissions from oil production would drop 25 per cent overnight.
We have a net zero oil company operating right here in the province of Saskatchewan. This should be recognized by the federal government. So what you will see in the years ahead, months ahead, I would say, is the federal government is going to consistently, without consultation, try to intrude in areas of provincial jurisdiction. You will see provinces, not just Saskatchewan, standing up for their provincial jurisdiction and ultimately landing these regulatory packages in court. Many of them you will see — like Bill C-69, like the plastics ban — will be found to be unconstitutional and the federal government will be going back to the drawing board.
And it’s unfortunate that this is the environment that we’re working in in a nation that is supposed to be working together towards, yes, lower emissions, but creating wealth for all Canadians. And it just doesn’t seem to be that way.
Purdy: Now, premier, what impact will the province’s decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on home heating have here on Saskatchewan residents?
Moe: A positive impact on all those that are currently utilizing natural gas or electricity to heat their homes. Natural gas savings will be about $400 a year. Again, unfortunate that the province is even making this decision.
As you know, the federal government had made what appears to be a very political decision to exempt the carbon tax off of home heating oil, largely exempting the carbon tax for Atlantic Canadians, one specific region of the nation. What we’d ask the federal government to do was to exempt the carbon tax from all forms of heating oil. They’ve refused to at this point, thereby not treating Canadian families equally.
We feel that is a tremendous disservice of a federal government to pick one area of the country and one area or geographical area of Canadians over all the rest. And so we’ve made a parallel decision in Saskatchewan to benefit as many folks as we can. But we’ve asked and continue to ask the federal government to do the right thing, treat all Canadian families equally, and remove the carbon tax on all forms of home heating.
Purdy: And so was maybe the biggest motivating factor behind this was to have a positive impact, at the end of the day, for those who call Saskatchewan home?
Moe: Certainly, and really in doing so, just mirroring the decision that the federal government made in every aspect that we are able to as a province.
Purdy: What repercussions, if any, do you expect from our federal government?
Moe: I don’t expect any repercussions. What would be a positive repercussion would be for the federal government to revisit their forgoing the carbon tax on all forms of home heating fuel. That would be a positive repercussion, not just for people in Saskatchewan, but for all Canadian families.
Purdy: So the province made a sizable investment at COP28 to promote Saskatchewan. Would you consider that trip a success?
Moe: Yes, I would. It really provided a platform for Saskatchewan industries and Saskatchewan people to not only talk about what we’re providing to over 150 countries each and every year in the way of helping countries aspire to food security and energy security. That’s what we normally will talk about when we’re on a trade mission. But what this was was was a little different. It provided that platform for those same industries to talk about how they’re producing some of the most sustainable food, fuel and fertilizer that you can purchase on Earth in your aspiration to acquire food and energy security.
The most positive announcement out of the COP28 was 24 countries committing to tripling their nuclear power footprint. This means in the world we’ll go from 400 nuclear reactors to 1,200 — a positive step forward from an emissions perspective, but also a positive step forward for Saskatchewan, that has not only uranium and uranium mining industry that is very vibrant, employing very many northern and Indigenous residents, but we’re actually now involved in the nuclear industry as well with Cameco’s purchase of Westinghouse.
Purdy: Now, do you believe that this is really going to be an investment in bringing more businesses and trade partners to Saskatchewan?
Moe: Definitely, over time this is going to strengthen our trade relationship, both on the investment side as well as the market access side by providing that platform for Saskatchewan industries to talk about how they produce the products that they do. It’s an important question that both our investors in the province and our off takers, our users of the products that we produce are asking and it provided us a platform to do that.
Purdy: Heading into an election year, where do you feel that your party stands in this province right now?
Moe: Well, I think we’re we continue to be a party that will listen. We’ve served for some period of time, and I think we need to acknowledge that, in fact, many of the voters, 200,000 people that have moved here from other areas of the world, many few hundred thousand people that have stayed here, young people that have never really experienced a time when you didn’t have a government that was focused on growth.
And I would say that focus on growth is something that at times we’re taking for granted in today’s day and age, taking for granted the fact that we can invest in new schools and invest in new hospitals. And I think as we find our way through the rest of this year, whether it be some of the uncertainty globally, some of the uncertainty with federal regulations that are coming, we need to focus on protecting that opportunity to continue to grow, to continue to invest, and to continue to ultimately have the opportunities that we have the last while. That’s the discussion that will be occurring over the course of the next year as we find our way ultimately to election day.
Purdy: The rural ridings in this province are generally right-leaning, whether it’s federally or provincially. Are you worried at all about losing seats in some of these urban ridings?
Moe: No, I think whether you’re rural or urban ridings in Saskatchewan, what people are concerned about is common sense and whether or not you’re serious in the views and the policies that you’re putting together on behalf of them. You may have some discussion as to whether, you know, an individual policy is the right policy or the wrong policy. But people want to know that you’re very serious about the how you’re coming forward with that policy, what the consultations are and who ultimately that policy is going to benefit. They don’t want necessarily to have busy working government. They want to see, you know, what are the outcomes, how are they benefiting my community, my friends, my family?
And so the Saskatchewan people, in my view, you know, are logical, very, very common sense in particular when you compare them to two other areas of the world and even this nation from time to time. And it’s a true honour for me to be involved in the government for the length of time that I have thus been here.
And I think you’ll see a very strong platform being put forward, in fairness, by all parties, but by this party that is going to focus on continued growth, protecting the opportunities that we have today and that we have built, and most certainly being a serious government around the things that are important and prioritized by the people of Saskatchewan.
Purdy: Are there any concerns at all after you guys lost two seats to the NDP this last August?
Moe: You know, when it comes to byelections, there’s messages that are sent to a government. We’ve had six urban byelections since we’ve had the honour to form government, we’ve lost 15 of them. Many times we’ve been able to take some of those seats back — not every time, but take some of those seats back in a general election. And a by election is a very different than a general election in that there can be a message sent.
Purdy: How critical will affordability be for this government to retain power?
Moe: Well, affordability is most certainly top of mind, not only for families, but for industries that are employing family members across Saskatchewan and across Canada. And I think, first of all, we need to recognize where the challenges (are) with respect to addressing affordability. I mentioned five regulations just in the oil industry alone in Saskatchewan — those are all involved in increasing the cost of what we are paying for our fuel and our gas, to the degree that the federal government made a decision about home heating fuel, where they’ll forgo the carbon tax on home heating oil for those folks in Atlantic Canada.
Those regulations increasing the cost of fuel are increasing the cost of the production of our food, our transportation of our food and everything else we purchase. And we’re seeing it. We’re seeing those inflationary pressures that are largely self-induced by regulations being brought forward by the federal government in our everyday life. When we go to the grocery store, when we go to the hardware store, all of those inflationary pressures are largely brought forward by regulations that have been brought in by this federal government, that have been supported by the very NDP that we have in this province, that have not supported our federal government in each and every vote of confidence since this minority administration has came in.
Purdy: Now, we went from a projected billion-dollar surplus to the $250-million deficit in six months. What steps will need to be taken to avoid another year where we go from surplus to deficit budget?
Moe: We will see, maybe not to that degree, but we will see ranges in the Saskatchewan projections that we have in our budget due to a couple of reasons. One is we export natural resource products to over 150 countries around the world, and we are part of the global food and energy supply chain. And when those markets change, we are susceptible to some significant revenue swings within our budgetary process. That’s number one.
Two, this is less about cash out, I guess, but more about budgetary numbers because there is a fund that is in place for any crop insurance payouts that we may have. It isn’t actual cash off the bottom line of the government, but it is recorded as an expense within our summary financials that we have.
And so we have a healthy crop insurance program that is contributed to by ag producers, by the provincial government and by the federal government. When that is drawn on, however, it does create a budgetary reduction in our reported finances.
And so we need to keep that all in perspective as we are making budgetary decisions in this province. And as I said, we need to have restraint when natural resource prices are good so that we don’t bake in those costs so that when they may slip, we’re not finding ourselves in deficit situations.
Purdy: Now, Premier Moe, what sets the party apart from the NDP that makes you believe your government will retain power in this upcoming election?
Moe: We’re growth-focused and focused on the opportunities of Saskatchewan people. That just simply isn’t the case of the NDP. They govern through a time where we didn’t increase in population, we didn’t invest in new school infrastructure, we didn’t invest in the people that were working in those schools. In fact, we were decreasing the number of teachers in our education facilities because the number of students was also decreasing. We didn’t build new hospitals. We certainly didn’t hire nurses and physicians to work in those hospitals. And ultimately our population was stagnant across the province.
Many folks voting in this election won’t remember a time like that, a time in this province where we didn’t have growth and your Grade 12 gift was luggage because you were going to have to move somewhere else in order to have a career. That isn’t the case in Saskatchewan anymore. You can make a choice to stay not only in this province, but likely in a community where you were raised and work in an industry that is operating and operating quite vibrantly in that community.
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