For a community that has two coal-fired power plants within sight and a swath of coal mine operations to the south and east, the imposition of a carbon tax that ratchets up over time is a serious concern.
It was a topic federal Conservative Party leadership hopeful Andrew Scheer touched on repeatedly during his speech to a little over 100 people in Estevan on March 4. The Mercury spoke to Scheer about coal-fired power after the conclusion of his remarks.
Regarding the 2015 Paris climate agreement, he said, “I would fight for a better deal. I don’t think we should be beholden to a Liberal government signing onto a deal without any consideration for what Canada has already done and the unique aspects of our country. We have a large landmass with a smaller population that’s cold most of the year, and we are heavily reliant on the resource sector. I would fight to get credit for the areas that provide a natural carbon sink. I would fight to get credit for the advances we’ve made, from clean coal and carbon capture to zero-till agriculture to more efficient ways to extract resources.”
He also thinks all countries should be treated fairly. “I don’t want to export jobs and emissions to China if that means it doesn’t actually improve the environment, it just means less economic activity in Canada.”
He’s not supporting a carbon market, but rather emissions targets.
Asked if Canada should be abandoning coal like Alberta’s NDP government currently is, he said, “I think it was very irresponsible for the federal Liberals to announce a moratorium on coal and accelerate the timelines for that. We’ve come a long way. The coal-powered plants that we’re seeing come online or are using today are far cleaner than they were 10 or 15 years ago.
“This is an ideological movement the Liberals are propagating. It’s not based on science or actual cleaning up of particulate matter in the air or emissions. We’ve seen the results of it, a disaster in Ontario! We’ve had people who’ve had to choose between hydro and rent, paying their power bill or buying medication. We should not have to impose that on our citizens. We have a rich country, full of abundant natural resources. We shouldn’t act like our natural resources are something to be stamped out. They are something that should be celebrated.
“Yes, we can invest in improving technology. Clean coal, carbon capture, they are technology we should be exporting around the world. We shouldn’t be hampering our own coal industry, raising the cost of power for every Canadian to achieve an ideological purpose,” Scheer said.
With SaskPower’s decision looming on whether or not to proceed with carbon capture on Boundary Dam Power Station’s Units 4, 5 and 6, will Scheer back these projects?
He responded that he would support the province, and he was part of the federal government that made the initial investment in Boundary Dam Unit 3. That’s a better way to reduce emissions, and that technology should be exported.
“I would also not be held on the same timeline of the moratorium the Liberals have brought in. My whole focus would be we’re not raising costs on consumers, we’re not doing things on an ideological basis, that we’re looking at actual science and actual benefit for what we do,” Scheer said.
