(EDITOR’S NOTE: The following letter concerning the recent comments Premier Brad Wall has made and the actions of the Saskatchewan Environment Ministerwas sent on October 4 to Wall and the writer asks that it be included in the Courier’s Letters to the Editor.)
Dear Premier Wall:
I have some serious concerns regarding the actions of your Environment Minister Mr. Scott Moe as well as your comments yesterday (October 3).
As a life-long resident and taxpayer in Saskatchewan I am embarrassed by your comments and the actions of your minister. I feel that the disrespect you refer to in your comments directed to the media are ill-advised and display no insight into the reality of the world and the issues of living in our modern world.
I have the advantage of having lived in this province for 62 years and in that time successive governments have talked about global warming and the need to do something. In that time, very little real action has taken place. The tidal wave of damage is rapidly approaching and you are most concerned by “the level of disrespect is stunning...” in reference to a collaborative process to negotiate a system to collect for the production of carbon.
Wake up Mr. Premier, we need to take action and if we don't the federal government will impose it upon us.
I have no problem with that as long as the level of sacrifice or commitment is spread equitably. Saskatchewan, I am confident, is willing to do whatever it will take to ensure the environment is not poisoned for our children and grandchildren.
Get your pride out of it and sit down and hammer out a deal. The time for talk is over and the time for action is upon us.
When our environment minister walked out of the meeting, he took us all out of the discussion for the sake of political opportunism. I don't care what was said three months ago. Instead of sitting and waiting for a favourable position, we need to accept some responsibility.
Mr. Trudeau and his government want to start at paying $10 for every ton of pollution created which would average a cost of $250 a year per Saskatchewan family in 2018. The level of payment would be graduated to $50 per ton of carbon which would cost an average family $1,250 per year in 2022. These collected taxes are to go into a fund to advance technology and infrastructure with the goal of reducing pollution. The hope is that the money would fund people's jobs and the construction of more advanced technologies to reduce pollution and would thus add to our economy.
From what I have read, what the federal government is proposing for Canada is barely acceptable to the world community. Much more will have to be spent in order to fix the problems we have created. Whether we can afford it right now is not the question. We need to find a way and that is accomplished in a democracy by debate, negotiation, and give and take, not by walking out of the room and crying that we have been shown no respect.
Work the problem, Mr. Premier, not the media. Get on with the work; 2018 is 15 months away and 2022 is another four years after that; five years and three months from now. I would guess the cost of polluting will be a lot more expensive before the problems are solved but at least we are making a start.
If you and your minister can't live with the necessity to do something, please step aside and we will find someone who is willing to do the hard and sometimes unpopular work.
Thank you.
Gary Gabel
Madge Lake
