Prosecutors wrapping up probe into 2016 spill

Saskatchewan prosecutors are “wrapping up” the probe to determine whether Husky Energy Inc. will face charges following the 2016 pipeline spill in the North Saskatchewan River, according to the province’s environment minister.

The provincial government turned its report on the 225,000-litre spill over to the Minister of Justice a year ago. Asked about the length of time prosecutors have had to make a decision, Environment Minister Dustin Duncan said that is in the lawyers’ hands.

“It was a significant event, certainly unprecedented in the province, and so I think the (Ministry of ) Justice lawyers wanted to make sure they were doing a full job in terms of evaluating all aspects of it,” Duncan told reporters Thursday in Regina.

Cathy Sproule, the Saskatchewan NDP’s critic for the Water Security Agency, criticized the government for refusing to release the full findings of its investigation, but Duncan said that will happen once the Ministry of Justice completes its work.

“The report should be released but not until it either goes to court — and then it becomes part of a public document — or if the company is charged but pleads to those charges,” Duncan said.

“It’s not our decision of not releasing the report. It’s been the advice that there is an appropriate time to release it and that time hasn’t come yet,” the Weyburn-Big Muddy MLA added.

The government has been repeatedly criticized for its handling of documents related to the July 20, 2016 spill.

Its refusal to hand over years’ worth of pipeline inspection reports despite Privacy Commissioner Ron Kruzeniski’s December 2016 recommendation that it release the files drew the ire of the Opposition. The NDP also expressed concern that the government would attempt to “bury” its investigation by releasing it around the same time as its unpopular 2017-18 budget, which attempted to halve a $1.2 billion deficit.

Former Finance Minister Kevin Doherty delivered the budget on March 23, 2017. Duncan the same day released a summary of the investigation and announced that the full report had been turned over to prosecutors.

Husky representatives declined to comment.