Canada Politics‘A very lonely’ Saskatchewan premier to stand against federal carbon tax
[Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has pre-emptively ruled out any decisive action on climate change emerging from the upcoming Thursday meeting of first ministers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Taylor]
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall may be the loneliest leader in the room later this week when provincial and territorial leaders meet in Vancouver to talk, among other things, action on climate change.
But Wall shouldn’t mind.
With a provincial election in the offing, the Saskatchewan premier has been working hard to position himself as the champion of the ailing oil industry. And it won’t hurt him among his supporters that he’s picking a fight with Big Brother Ottawa to do so.
“Historically in Saskatchewan, like in a lot of provinces but especially in the west, there’s a tendency to campaign against Ottawa,” says Charles Smith, a professor of political science at the University of Saskatchewan.
“Since the Liberals have been elected federally, Mr. Wall has been probably the most outspoken critic of the federal government. I think there’s a lot of political posturing there.”
Wall pre-emptively ruled out any decisive action on climate change emerging from the Thursday meeting of first ministers, saying on CTV’s Question Period program on the weekend that his government opposes the pan-Canadian carbon tax central to the federal Liberal plan to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions.
“We don’t think this is the right time for a carbon tax, given weaknesses in the Canadian economy; given the challenges that we’re facing in the energy sector, which is just a very important sector for all of Canada, not just for the provinces where the industry is resident,” Wall said.
Before Saskatchewan will sign onto any climate change initiative his government wants an economic impact assessment akin to the environmental assessments that must take place for national energy projects.
“Let’s find out what it would do to consumers. Let’s find out what it might do to businesses, to an economy right now that’s soft, certainly, that has its challenges…,” Wall said.
On Tuesday, the Quebec government announced legal action seeking an injunction that would force a provincial environmental review of TransCanada’s proposed Energy East pipeline.
Wall wasted no time in making political hay.
“Some in Cda say carbon taxes in west would gain support for pipelines across country. How’s that working?#EnergyEast” he wrote on Twitter, along with a link to a story on the injunction application.
Saskatchewan will go to the polls in early April and championing the oil industry is a key plank of Wall’s re-election campaign, Smith says.
The Saskatchewan Party has been in power since ousting the provincial NDP in 2007. Times have been good but, with the drop in oil prices, the province faces a deficit for the first time this year with a projected $427-million shortfall.
“I think the Saskatchewan Party genuinely believes that the health of Saskatchewan’s economy is tied to the energy sector,” he says.
“But on another level there’s a lot of political posturing.”
Will that political posturing be enough to derail a pan-Canadian carbon tax or other climate initiatives?
“I don’t know if Saskatchewan has the clout within the federation to derail an entire deal on its own,” he says.
But it is the second largest energy producer in the country.
“If they’re not on board on any level it certainly will make it more difficult for the federal government,” Smith says.
Wall has had little support — at least publicly — for his position. Oil-dependent provinces including Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador have been uncharacteristically silent.
His closest ally on the political spectrum, British Columbia Premier Christy Clark, has done the same.
“Surprisingly not a lot of allies. I think he’s going to be a very lonely person at the premiers’ meeting. Now, maybe he’s used to it because he was probably quite a very lonely person at [the UN climate change meeting] COP21, and yet he was there championing the oil sector.”
