Wall confident on jobs staying in province
Months after pledging to look at “every option” to keep head office jobs in Saskatchewan following a massive merger in the fertilizer industry, Premier Brad Wall says he is cautiously optimistic about Nutrien Ltd.’s commitments to the province.
At the same time, keeping an eye on the multibillion-dollar company should be near the “top of the list” for whoever succeeds him in about three weeks, the outgoing premier told reporters at a news conference in Saskatoon on Thursday.
“I think it’s important for whoever is next in my position, and for the government going forward, to be vigilant and to monitor the situation to make sure that these commitments to the province are maintained,” Wall said.
Formed on Jan. 1 following the long-awaited merger between Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. and Agrium Inc., Nutrien has committed to increasing the number of corporate jobs in the province by 15 per cent, to around 300 positions.
The new company has also pledged to keep its “registered head office” — a term that is not necessarily synonymous with head office — and its potash division in the province, and to relocate two new business units to Saskatchewan, according to the provincial government.
Asked whether the company — which was formed in response to fertilizer market conditions — provided any guarantees regarding its six potash mines in the province, Wall acknowledged that previous temporary layoffs were the result of supply and demand.
“I have a real confidence that there will be no reduction operationally, in terms of mining jobs, frontline jobs, as a result of the merger. I can’t speak to, heaven forbid, the prices falling or the markets changing, but with markets as they are … this is not about reduction,” he said.
Interim Saskatchewan NDP leader Nicole Sarauer said Nutrien CEO Chuck Magro’s decision to keep his primary residence in Calgary raises questions about the long-term viability of the company’s promises. She said the government should have done more to extract guarantees.
“We want to ensure there’s longterm commitment for long-term sustainability for those jobs, for the people of Saskatchewan, so that we can be getting the most we should be getting out of this merger,” Sarauer told reporters in Regina.
Wall — whose concerns stem from PotashCorp’s pledge, made in the aftermath of BHP’s failed takeover bid in 2010, to keep its headquarters in the province — said he is happy the company will keep its executive chairman, former PotashCorp CEO Jochen Tilk, based in Saskatoon.
Richard Downey, Nutrien’s vicepresident of investor and corporate relations, said the company shared its plans with the provincial government “right from Day 1,” and that its “commitment will continue.”
“I think the plan, our people plan, shows a commitment to the province,” Downey said.
“We’re going to be the largest private-sector employer in the province, and we are committed to the province and we’re committed to the Saskatoon office — and we’re showing that.”
The organization representing Saskatchewan’s unionized potash miners, meanwhile, said its members working at the five former PotashCorp mines and one operation that was owned by Agrium have been told little about what their future holds.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty,” Saskatchewan Potash Council spokesman Darrin Kruger said, adding Nutrien miners are frustrated at having to work under the assumption that it’s “business as usual … until something changes.”
Downey said the combined company’s mines and other production and retail facilities can expect “very little change” under the merger, unlike its corporate operations, the integration of which has a “people aspect” attached to it.
Nutrien began trading on stock exchanges in New York and Toronto on Jan. 2, about 15 months after PotashCorp and Agrium confirmed they were in merger talks. It closed Thursday at $69.55.