Saskatchewan Throne Speech doesn’t mention energy or oil
BY BRIAN ZINCHUK
REGINA – The first Saskatchewan Party Speech from the Throne in its new mandate is long on health and education spending, but says almost nothing about energy, and nothing at all about energy development.
The Saskatchewan Party found the election had largely revolved around health and education issues, and Premier Scott Moe, in his election night speech, noted this message had been heard. The Throne Speech maintains a sharp focus on those two areas in particular, but mentions little on the revenue side of the ledger.
The relatively short 11 page document, read by Lt.-Gov Russ Mirasty the afternoon of Nov. 25, does not use the word “energy” once. Nor does it use the word “oil.” “Natural gas” is only mentioned once, with reference to the fighting the federal carbon tax.
“Saskatchewan has one of the lowest inflation rates in Canada, largely due to my government’s decision to take the carbon tax off home heating.
“That exemption has already been extended by SaskPower for those customers who use electricity to heat their homes.
“During this session, my government will introduce legislation to extend the carbon tax exemption on natural gas through 2025, saving Saskatchewan households about $480 next year.
“My government will continue to advocate for the carbon tax to be eliminated completely, but until that happens, we will ensure carbon tax fairness by exempting home heating from the carbon tax.”
And that’s it. There is nothing about energy development, energy transition, coal, nuclear power, uranium, lithium, wind, solar, renewable, helium, or climate.
Potash is mentioned once, in a list of Growth Plan goals achieved, stating, “Increasing the annual value of potash sales to $9 billion.”
It was mentioned in this portion:
Saskatchewan is on track to achieve many of my government’s Growth Plan goals, including:
1.4 million people living in Saskatchewan by 2030;
$16 billion in annual private capital investment by 2030;
Increasing agricultural value-added revenue to $10 billion a year by 2030; and
Doubling forestry sales to $2.2 billion by 2030.
Saskatchewan has already achieved and exceeded many of my government’s Growth Plan goals, including:
Increasing total export value by 50 per cent compared to 2018;
Increasing manufacturing value by 50 per cent compared to 2018;
Increasing Saskatchewan’s agri-food exports to $20 billion a year; and
Increasing the annual value of potash sales to $9 billion.