Sask. promises more details on carbon plan

Minister says further strategy details coming after lukewarm federal response

Saskatchewan’s environment minister is signalling there will be more coming on the province’s climate change strategy, a day after the federal government suggested more is needed in the plan.

Dustin Duncan says the ball is now “absolutely” in the court of the federal government to respond to the province’s strategy, released this week.

“It’s really going to be up to the federal government to decide whether or not this meets Saskatchewan being part of the pan-Canadian framework,” he said Tuesday.

The initial response of the federal government was lukewarm at best — with Duncan’s counterpart in Ottawa, Catherine McKenna, saying in an online statement the plan doesn’t hit the standard set by the Canadian government in asking all provinces to establish a carbon pricing plan through an explicit price on emissions or a cap-and-trade system.

But Duncan says more is coming from the province on the climate strategy.

“You’ll see more of that in 2018, as more of the details come out in 2018 as to what the plan actually looks like,” he said, adding there will be “a lot of possibilities” for people to benefit, particularly those who are putting in effort to produce their own power.

Dubbed Prairie Resilience: A Made-in-Saskatchewan Climate Change Strategy, the province’s plan does not include an explicit carbon tax and lowers the threshold of what is considered a “heavy emitter” from 50,000 tonnes of emissions to 25,000 tonnes, which is largely the same as a policy the province advanced seven years ago.

Saskatchewan’s strategy also calls for a “carbon offset” to be purchased by emitters to offset their greenhouse gas emissions, as well as a best performance credit for companies demonstrating low emissions or investments in reducing their emissions.

Duncan says those performance standards “will actually regulate heavy emitters in this province” and “you will see some work around being able to provide for a market for some of the gases that are, right now, just vented and flared, to perhaps bring some of those gases onto essentially the marketplace and you will see an overall look as to how we are more resilient to the overall affects of climate change.”

How much of an impact more details from the province will have on the federal government’s decision to give Saskatchewan’s plan the goahead remains unknown.

When the province released a white paper last year which outlined several of the policies now being put forward in the strategy, McKenna suggested there was common ground between the two jurisdictions when it came to technology investments and adaptation — but not carbon pricing.

With Saskatchewan’s strategy now out, the federal government has to either reject or accept the province’s plan. If it rejects it, there will be further pressure on Ottawa to impose a carbon tax on Saskatchewan, because it is unlikely the province will change its staunch opposition to introducing such a policy.