Saskatchewan says Ottawa can’t impose the British Columbia carbon plan because it won’t work.
A government spokesperson also says the province was caught off guard when officials learned of media reports suggesting that the B.C .plan was the federal government’s default.
Ottawa has said it will impose a carbon-limiting plan on provinces that don’t come up with their own by 2018. It can be a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system.
Saskatchewan Pemier Brad Wall has steadfastly opposed any carbon plan because he says it would make farmers uncompetitive. He, along with Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister, did not sign on to the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change after the first ministers’ meeting Dec. 9.
Read Also
Genetic resistance for anthracnose is on the way
anthracnose resistant lentil varieites are on the way according to Ana Vargas, University of Saskatchewan lentil and chickpea breeder. She also shared some management methods for the anthracnose in lentils.
During the meeting, a media report indicated that federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna’s office said Saskatchewan farmers would be eligible for the same exemptions as B.C. farmers if the province didn’t agree to the national plan.
That would mean exemptions on diesel and gasoline for farm use, as well as 80 percent of natural gas for greenhouses.
A request for comment from McKenna’s office was not returned before Western Producer deadlines Dec. 12.
However, the province said the B.C. plan would not address all the concerns that Saskatchewan has with a carbon tax, including increased fertilizer costs and higher costs to transport goods to port. Farmers would also see indirect increases in pesticide and herbicide costs because of freight systems subjected to the tax.
“A land-locked province needing inputs from global producers and selling its products on global markets will be disproportionately affected by this tax,” said a statement from the province.
“We are not comparable to British Columbia.”
B.C.’s tax, in place since 2008, is currently at $30 per tonne.
Alberta’s tax will exempt diesel and gas for farm use but not natural gas. It begins Jan. 1 at $20 per tonne and increases to $30 the following year.
Ontario and Quebec have both chosen cap-and-trade systems.
The framework includes critical actions the signatories intend to use to build the economy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This includes protecting and enhancing carbon stored in forests, wetlands and agricultural land.
Saskatchewan has already earned a small victory in reaching an agreement with Ottawa that will allow it to continue to generate coal-fired electricity beyond 2030, the target to reduce emissions by 30 percent of 2005 levels, as long as equal emission reductions occur.
