Saskatchewan took its anti-carbon tax message to the Canadian Senate last month, telling the agriculture and forestry committee that focusing on adaptation is a better idea than a tax.
Environment Minister Dustin Duncan and Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart appeared before the committee via video link as part of the committee’s study of the potential impact of climate change on the sectors.
Duncan, who leads the climate change file, said the province’s resiliency plan supports people while curbing emissions and planning for change.
He said Saskatchewan soils sequester an average of nine megatonnes of carbon each year and forests sequester an average of 3.5 megatonnes of carbon.
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“None of this sequestration is accounted for in the national inventory report of provincial and national emissions, something that we hope the federal government will begin to recognize,” Duncan said.
Stewart said an increase in tame forage acres is sequestering more carbon, but that isn’t considered either. He said the Prairie Soil Carbon Balance Project has collected soil samples since 1996 that show zero-till farming sequesters about three times more carbon than the national inventory report estimates.
Increases in pulse acreage have resulted in reduced emissions, and energy used to produce crops is down, he said.
On the livestock side, research has shown that emissions are declining because of better management.
“Let’s be clear. Farmers made these greenhouse gas reductions without a carbon tax. They are reducing emissions because it makes good business sense and because they know how to be resilient,” Stewart told the committee.
Newfoundland and Labrador Senator Norman Doyle asked the ministers if there is a better way to obtain national consensus or policy on the complex issue of climate change.
Duncan said going back to the Vancouver Declaration, which noted that every province is starting from a different point, would be best. He said the declaration stated that each province could develop “fair and flexible” plans.
Saskatchewan is consulting on its resiliency plan and intends to roll out details later this year.
