Saskatchewan’s premier holds his ground on carbon tax decision

Mar 05, 2018

Scott Moe is willing to go to court with feds over carbon pricing battle

By Kate Ayers
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Scott Moe, Saskatchewan’s premier, said the province will not initiate a carbon tax in the foreseeable future. He’s even prepared to go to court with Ottawa over the matter.

Last week, Moe announced that Saskatchewan would not sign the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. The plan includes a pricing of carbon, according to a Global News article yesterday.

The province could forgo $62 million in federal funding (over five years) since Saskatchewan missed the Feb. 28 deadline to sign on. Ottawa’s investment is provided through the $1.4-billion Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund.

The regulation of renewable and non-renewable resource industries is a provincial matter, Moe said. Ottawa’s responsibilities, in contrast, include ensuring market access and negotiating international trade agreements, according to the article.

“We’re in consultation with our legal team as we move forward,” Moe told Eric Sorensen of Global News on this week’s edition of The West Block.

“If it does end up in court, so be it. We’re prepared to take this (issue down) that avenue if need be.”

Catherine McKenna, the federal environmental minister, is disappointed in Saskatchewan’s decision to opt out of the plan. In the event a province or territory does not develop its own pricing strategy under federal guidelines, the federal plan will apply, according to her office.

Moe argued that Sask. industries like mining, forestry, agriculture and energy are striving for sustainability – without a carbon price, according to the article.

“It is a policy that doesn’t work. It doesn’t work for our province, it doesn’t work for our industry,” Moe said to Sorensen.

“But that in no way says we aren’t totally a willing participant in the conversation around climate change and around a more fulsome carbon conversation.”

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.