Oh, and here’s a bonus: the federal government wants to now subsidize radio news as well. Why do I hear the Emperor from the Return of the Jedi cackling in my head?
The Saskatchewan Green Party proposes to “Make Green Jobs the future of Saskatchewan’s economy by transitioning away from fossil fuels,” while financing its extensive socialist policy platform by modelling Norway which applies “a whopping 78 percent total tax” on oil and gas revenues.
Notably, it includes five pages discussing the Greens opposition to small modular reactors. And the policy document closes by saying on the last page, “How do we pay for it? The Saskatchewan Green Party is dedicated to building a prosperous future for our province. It is time to raise royalty rates in the oil & gas sector to levels that truly reflect the value of our resources. We would use Norway as an example. Norway has a 51 percent tax on petroleum-related income, on top of the 27 percent income tax. That amounts to a whopping 78 percent total tax. This is put into a fund to benefit all citizens.”
That page does not list any other major revenue source, or indeed any revenue source at all, other than heavily taxing oil and gas, the same oil and gas earlier in the document the party promises to transition away from. If the party does succeed in “transitioning away from fossil fuels,” (Page 17) it offers no other source of revenue on the “How do we pay for it?” page (Page 61).
Here’s my attempt at a reel from the Lloydminster Heavy Oil Show. Hopefully more to come.
Oh, and it looks like Muskrat Falls wasn’t just going to bankrupt the Newfies, who quietly got a $5 billion bailout during COVID, but it looks like Nova Scotia, too, is getting bailed out.
It’s not often an oil company CEO sells his company to run for provincial politics, becoming the leader of an upstart party in the process. But that’s exactly what Jon Hromek has done. And as someone coming from industry, his thoughts on energy transition, CO2 and coal differ from a lot of the other politicians in Saskatchewan, or for that matter, Canada.
And, as promised yesterday, more on those Clean Electricity Regulations that mean even MORE wind and solar, and no more coal or natural gas without carbon capture.
And maybe Wilkinson thinks aforementioned wind turbines will power all those electric heat pumps, when it’s cold, and when it’s hot. What am I saying? Of course he does.
The proposed Clean Electricity Regulations are among the most significant policy moves in recent Canadian history. The fundamental thrust is to all but eliminate fossil fuel combustion from the Canadian electrical grid. On any given day, up to 88 per cent of Saskatchewan’s power comes from natural gas and coal.
If implemented in their current form, they will utterly remake Canada, its economy and society. The Government of Saskatchewan, on June 25, rejected these regulations, based on a report by the Economic Impact Assessment Tribunal, convened under the Saskatchewan First Act. That act, in turn, was brought into law to counter numerous onerous federal climate change initiatives.
Within the tribunals report are all the submissions made by numerous companies and agencies, several of which Pipeline Online is publishing verbatim in the coming days and weeks. But perhaps the most significant was the Feb. 15 submission by Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault, who, with Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson, is one of the leading figures from the federal government on this front. As such, his submission is the stance of the federal government. Notably, he does not explain how Saskatchewan is to replace all of its fossil fuel-based power in the 10 years, five months and 30 days remaining from today. Here it is, verbatim
Jim Reiter, Bronwyn Eyre, Michael Milani. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
For a long time, Premier Scott Moe has been saying it’s impossible to comply with federal regulations regarding getting rid of our fossil-fueled power generation, in the timeline the federal Liberal government wants.
It’s coming to a head.
This is the first action of this type thus far under the Saskatchewan First Act. This is what it was meant for.
If implemented in their current form, the Clean Electricity Regulations mean to all but eliminate the burning of fossil fuels for power generation in 10 years, six months and three days from now. Saskatchewan relies on natural gas and coal to produce the vast majority of its power, up to 88 per cent on some days. And if implemented, these regulations will fundamentally alter Canada and its economy, and affect all of its people in one form or another. It’s one of the most important policy pieces in generations, seeking to remake Canada.
The government released all the submissions to the tribunal. I will be reprinting many of them over the coming days, maybe weeks. There’s a lot. And there’s a lot to be said.
I’ve been saying for a while now, this whole “energy transition” is the biggest story of our times. And the biggest part of that is implementation of the Clean Electricity Regulations, which will affect every person, business and industry in this country. On Tuesday, Saskatchewan said it’s not going to follow them, because they’re impossible to follow.
I will have numerous stories on this over the coming days and weeks, deep dives into what this is all about. I just got off the phone with one cabinet minister and will be talking to another in a few minutes. Watch for that in a bit. In the meantime, this is the executive summary of the report prepared for the Saskatchewan government, a report whose purpose is to give backing to our saying “F off” to the feds. That’s basically what Saskatchewan is doing.
As for Manitoba – does its Premier Wab Kinew even know they have an oilpatch? Because the previous NDP government sure didn’t. Back in 2009, I attended a ministerial tour of a new oil pipeline in southwest Manitoba. It had taken the Manitoba energy minister a full year in that position before he bothered to drive outside of Winnipeg to see a pumpjack.
But the Manitoba Conservatives weren’t much better, either. Former premier Brian Pallister once spoke of “oil producing provinces” by conveniently forgetting Manitoba is one of them.
Remember when Charlie Angus was unsuccessful in his private members bill to muzzle promoting oil and gas? Turns out the NDP-Liberal coalition means he wasn’t so unsuccessful after all, and the Saskatchewan government is crying foul. Is anyone else?
Aleana Young
But if I go to jail for this, the Sask NDP energy critic said she’ll join me and the attorney general in the same cell.
I was just at the Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Show this week. And former Prime Minister gave an awesome fireside chat as the keynote. Unfortunately, his people didn’t want any reporting on it. So I can’t. But man, I sure wish I could.
If you own or run a business, you need to read this. Greenhouse gas emissions reporting WILL affect you. Tammy Nemeth: Beware – The Warrior Accountants are at the Gate.
“The profound implications of these standards on our economy and society underscore the need for an open and honest public conversation, rather than relying on unelected appointed standard-setting bodies to make those decisions. Now is the time to engage in that conversation and shape those standards before they are set.”
