DOHERTY REJECTS CARBON TAX
SaskPower to ramp up renewables
The Saskatchewan Party government has no intention of implementing a carbon tax, as was announced over the weekend by the NDP government in Alberta, Finance Minister Kevin Doherty told the Regina and District Chamber of Commerce on Monday.
“We’re not imposing a carbon tax,’’ Doherty said in response to a question following his presentation to the chamber.
“Now is not the time to impose another tax on the business community.’’
Doherty was echoing Premier Brad Wall’s comments to the media on Sunday.
“We won’t be implementing a universal carbon tax in the province of Saskatchewan,” Wall told CTV’s Bob Simpson. “We’re making some key investments in renewables. Those will be announced early this week.’’
Doherty also referred to SaskPower’s announcement on Monday. “SaskPower also announced a renewable-energy strategy this morning by having 50 per cent of our electricity generated by renewables by 2030. That’s an aggressive plan, but that is what we will be doing.’’
As for the province’s fiscal strategy, Doherty conceded that “our provincial economy continues to be met with challenges.’’
As of the end of August, the Ministry of Finance was projecting a $292-million deficit in 2015-16 or roughly two per cent of the government’s $14.2-billion budget, and a far cry from the $107-million surplus that former finance minister Ken Krawetz announced in his budget last March.
“This projected deficit, which we intend to eliminate by the end of this fiscal year, is largely due to two things: unexpected forest firefighting costs in Northern Saskatchewan earlier this year and, of course, the impact of the decrease in oil prices on our economy.’’
The “substantial’’ $100-million forest firefighting expenditure was largely because of the proximity of the fires to population centres.
“It was the largest evacuation in the history of Saskatchewan,” with some 13,000 people moved from communities up north to places like North Battleford, Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert, he said.
Doherty added that the “fluctuating price of oil is having a real impact on province’s revenue as the volatility of lower prices continues. We’ve dropped our oil forecast for the fiscal year to $49.50 US a barrel (WTI). That’s down $7.65 from $57.15” in the budget, he said.
But he said Saskatchewan’s challenge is “not as great as that faced by our neighbours to the west,” as “oil is not as large a part of our overall economy as it is in Alberta.’’ He noted that oil and gas extraction makes up about 15 per cent of the province’s GDP, versus about 25 per cent in Alberta. With a projected $50 billion in capital mining projects over the next 20 years, Saskatchewan benefits from having a more diversified economy than Alberta, he said.
And unlike the NDP government of Rachel Notley, the Sask. Party government will not raise taxes to balance the budget.
“We cannot lose sight of the need to bring the province’s finances back into balance by year-end. We will do this by careful management and restraint measures. We will not balance the budget by reaching into your pockets and raising taxes.’’