Saskatchewan will not be suing Ottawa for more money to fund BSE assistance programs.
Agriculture minister Mark Wartman said provincial justice officials ruled out the idea.
“Preliminary responses to our inquiries were that there just weren’t really any grounds to move in that direction,” he said.
The minister’s suggestion last week that the province might challenge the 60-40 funding split in court drew criticism from farm organizations and opposition politicians. They said the province should concern itself with fully funding its 40 percent share of the package announced Sept. 10, estimated at $40-$50 million.
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Wartman will meet with his BSE advisory committee next week and announce afterward how much the province will spend.
Saskatchewan maintains that BSE relief is a federal responsibility because it’s a trade issue.
Wartman said the deal reached by Ottawa and the provinces last week for more health and equalization funding takes some financial pressure off Saskatchewan.
The province will get an additional $90 million a year for health care and a share of an extra $10 billion in equalization. Premiers will discuss a new equalization formula at a meeting Oct. 26, possibly in Regina.
