Premier Wall, Lingenfelter clash over potash royalties

It was a rock fight during the first question period of the year Monday as Premier Brad Wall and Opposition Leader Dwain Lingenfelter sparred over the NDP’s call for a review of Saskatchewan’s royalty regime for potash.

Both leaders had suggested in recent days the spring sitting of the legislature would serve as a prelude to the fall provincial election -a campaign where each man expects potash royalties to be a significant issue.

The NDP maintains the numbers posted from potash companies make it clear Saskatchewan residents are not receiving their fair share from a resource they own.

"Maybe we can squeeze a little more than a nickel on a dollar out of the Potash Corporation (of Saskatchewan) and do some of the things people in this province want," Lingenfelter said in question period.

The Saskatchewan Party government has rejected a review, saying the current system introduced by the previous NDP government -with its incentives for capital spending -is fuelling the large-scale expansion and resulting economic spinoff currently underway in the industry in the province.

Speaking to reporters after question period, Wall said while the potash industry may be dealing with what has been called a "new norm" of increasing world food demand and growth in potash demand and prices, the industry in the province remains vulnerable.

The government’s own experience in 2009, when its budget was derailed by potash revenue projections that were off by $2 billion because of inflated projections of price and sales, is a hard lesson, he suggested.

"I think it’s a mistake for any politician to say, ‘I know what the price of potash is going to be next year.’ We’ll never make that mistake again. We’re on the side of royalty stability and we do believe fundamentally that changing the royalty now will kill jobs, will risk jobs in the province," he said.

Lingenfelter said he would not prejudge what a changed royalty structure would look like ahead of a review.

But he suggested to reporters it could stay relatively similar to the current system, with a mechanism to extract a larger return when potash prices soar to a certain range.

"There is a windfall profit here and a good share of that should go to the people and families of Saskatchewan," said Lingenfelter.

The first day of the legislature followed the Sask. Party’s weekend convention where Wall derided much of the NDP’s proposed policies -including the potash royalty review -as "crazy."

Wall defended the use of the term to reporters but avoided using it again on Monday. Instead he repeatedly characterized NDP policies as "reckless."