Conservatives call on feds to repeal CP Rail tax exemption in Saskatchewan Act

Saskatchewan’s Conservative members of Parliament are urging the Trudeau government to support amendments to the Saskatchewan Act by passing a motion tabled in the House of Commons.

On Monday, Regina-Qu’Appelle MP Andrew Scheer announced on behalf of the Saskatchewan Conservative Regional Caucus that they are pushing for Section 24 of the act to be repealed before the House of Commons.

Section 24 contains an exemption for Canadian Pacific Railway from multiple Saskatchewan provincial taxes.

Members of Saskatchewan’s legislative assembly adopted a motion to amend the Saskatchewan Act and the Constitution of Canada during the legislature’s fall sitting.

Now, Scheer and his colleagues hope the federal government won’t delay in showing the province its support on this matter.

“CP Rail is currently attempting to use a clause in the Saskatchewan Act as justification to avoid paying any provincial taxes on its main line,” Scheer said. “This would result in a dramatic loss in revenue for the provincial government.”

Scheer mentioned that Parliament must pass its own motion in order for the provincial legislature’s motion to take effect.

Once passed by the House of Commons and the Senate, Scheer said it would amend the constitution bilaterally.

“Whatever justifications may have existed in 1881 to justify a special tax exemption for a railway in 2021? No such justifications can be given,” he added.

“There’s really no public policy rationale to grant a multi-billion-dollar rail company a tax exemption that would put a tremendous strain on provincial services, which is something that is not fair. It wouldn’t treat other companies who operate in Saskatchewan fairly either.”

Scheer hopes the motion will be passed in “an expedited manner” to provide certainty to the province.

He said the motion is on the notice paper, which means it can be moved at some point. The next step would be to designate a day where they could find a solution to the matter.

“We’re optimistic and we hope we can get this done quickly.”

The Saskatchewan government said repealing Section 24 “will level the playing field for all businesses while supporting Saskatchewan’s autonomy and cementing its place as an equal partner in Confederation.”