The final week of the current legislative session in Regina, which wrapped up Thursday, included lively debate on a number of issues, with the opposition NDP bombarding the Saskatchewan party government with questions on health care wait times and, again, about the John Black LEAN contract. The Trans-Pacific Partnership was also a top topic in the final week.
But the other item of interest was the National Climate Change Summit of premiers with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a meeting Premier Brad Wall attended earlier in the week.
With Wall gone for a couple of days it was left to Battlefords MLA Herb Cox, minister of Environment, to defend the premier in the legislature over apparent remarks attributed to Wall in Ottawa.
NDP opposition critic Cathy Sproule fired those questions at Cox in question period Tuesday and here is the exchange as recorded in Hansard.
Ms. Sproule:— Mr. Speaker, yesterday, while he was speaking to reporters in Ottawa, the Premier said that Saskatchewan has a carbon levy for large emitters. To the Environment minister: is that really true, or did the Premier misspeak?
The Speaker: —I recognize the Minister for the Environment.
Hon. Mr. Cox: —Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to say that Saskatchewan certainly recognizes the importance of addressing climate change, and that’s why we’ve taken such concrete actions in this province by deploying . . . We heard it here in the last several days, in this Assembly, talking about our carbon capture sequestration down at Boundary Dam 3. It’s a very important project.
And I’m very happy to hear on Monday SaskPower’s announcement that by 2030, we’ll be going to 50 per cent renewals. I think that’s very important. But I think it’s also important to remember that climate change is a global problem, Mr. Speaker. And I think that by focusing on our technological changes that we’re developing here in Saskatchewan, that’s going to have global ramifications all across this world.
The Speaker: —I recognize the member for Saskatoon Nutana.
Ms. Sproule: —I’m sorry, Mr. Speaker. I didn’t hear the answer to the question. I’m going to try this again. When speaking to reporters in Ottawa yesterday, the Premier said that Saskatchewan has a carbon levy for large emitters. And we want to know from the Environment minister, is that really true or did the Premier misspeak?
The Speaker: —I recognize the Minister for the Environment.
Hon. Mr. Cox: —Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve been working on several things in the Department of Environment, working on a phased approach to what we’re going to do here in Saskatchewan. One of the things that we are working on is the initial phase. Phase 1 is going to be cutting down our emissions from our power plant, and that’s why we’re working on Boundary Dam 3 as well.
We’ve done a lot of good work here in the province with regards to our low-carbon emissions technology. Over the last . . . since 2007, there’s been $5 billion invested in this province, Mr. Speaker, with regards to low-carbon emissions. And we thank the industry, provincial government, federal government for doing that. Presently, 25 per cent of our power comes from renewables, and certainly by 2030 we’re going to increase that to 50 per cent.
The Speaker: —I recognize the member for Saskatoon Nutana.
Ms. Sproule: —Mr. Speaker, the Premier was very clear yesterday. He said that Saskatchewan has a carbon levy for large emitters. Now we know that the Premier and the SaskPower minister have really struggled with using the proper tenses here. They said that the carbon capture project was working when they apparently meant to say that it hopefully will work someday. But it doesn’t make sense for the Premier to say that Saskatchewan has a carbon levy for large emitters because we don’t. The Sask Party promised to implement one back in 2009, but they have failed to do so.
So again to the Environment minister: why did the Premier say the government has a carbon levy for large emitters when that’s not accurate?
The Speaker: —I recognize the Minister for the Environment.
Hon. Mr. Cox: —Mr. Speaker, we’ve heard so many times in this House over the past weeks. I would just like to hear the full context of what the Premier said down there before I took the word of what this member opposite is saying because I would need to see what the full context of that was.
One of the things that he did say down in Ottawa last week is that we will not be levying a carbon tax in this province. The present economy in this province and across Western Canada, I don’t think we can stand another tax on consumers, another tax on businesses. I would just like to know what that opposition would do. Are they in favour of a carbon tax that would further cripple the economy of this province?
The Speaker: —I recognize the member for Saskatoon Nutana.
Ms. Sproule: —Mr. Speaker, this is coming from a minister who didn’t know whether climate change was real, and now he apparently can’t read the newspapers to find out what his own Premier is saying in Ottawa. We want this government, we want this government to implement the carbon levy for large emitters. We want the Saskatchewan technology fund implemented, which would reinvest that money into green innovation here in Saskatchewan.
What we don’t want is for the Premier to fly around making statements that don’t match reality about this government’s shameful record on climate change. So to the Environment minister: since the Premier has already told the world that we have a carbon levy in place for large emitters, why not do the right thing and finally implement it? It’s been six years since they proposed it. Why not finally get the job done?
The Speaker: —I recognize the Minister for the Environment.
Hon. Mr. Cox: —Mr. Speaker, I really welcome this opportunity to finally set the record straight. And again, we’re hearing part of what was said before. I’d just like to clear up what I said on my first interview after I became Environment minister, and had the member opposite heard that transcript or read that transcript since, she would know that my answer to that question was, yes I believe that it was an issue we all should be concerned about as individuals and certainly as government. So the short answer to that question, Mr. Speaker, is yes, we believe in climate change and we believe in helping to mitigate the effects that man is having on that climate change.
And I would repeat my question to them: are they in favour of a carbon tax [that] would further cripple this economy of this province or are they not?
The Speaker: — I recognize the member from Saskatoon Nutana.
Ms. Sproule: — Mr. Speaker, we’re going to try this one more time. We’ve had five Environment ministers who have promised this carbon levy for large emitters. This is the fifth minister to come along, and we want to know whether or not he is going to agree with what the Premier’s saying. The Premier says you have a carbon levy. Is that true or did the Premier misspeak?
The Speaker: — I recognize the Minister for the Environment.
Hon. Mr. Cox: — Mr. Speaker, there’s only one way to answer that again: without hearing the full transcript of what the Premier said in Ottawa, I’m not prepared to comment on it. I’m not going to take the word of that member opposite on what was said by the Premier. I would like to see it before I do. Thank you.
Thursday was the final day of sitting in the legislature for this term. The house is now adjourned until after the next provincial election to be held April 4, 2016.
