SASKATOON - The provincial government’s Economic Impact Assessment Tribunal has released a report saying Saskatchewan could face serious economic harm with new proposed new regulations to cut emissions from the oil and gas sector.
The proposed regulations aim to cut the emissions by 75 per cent from 2012 levels by 2030.
This is something the Sask Party government has opposed from the outset.
The tribunal was set up with members chosen by the government to do this analysis. The report says by the year 2050, if all of these regulations come into force, oil production in Saskatchewan would drop between 38 and 52 percent. It goes on to say it could cost Saskatchewan between $4.8 billion and $7.1 billion in taxation revenue and and royalty revenue.
In total, the report suggests a financial hit to Saskatchewan of $43.3 billion by 2050.
“The tribunal has, in several cases, relied on the same experts as the federal government and presented undeniable, quantitative data that these two federal mandates would be economically devastating to Saskatchewan,” Justice Minister and Attorney General Bronwyn Eyre said. “These mandates will lead to industrial winners and losers across the country and represent a sweeping constitutional overreach into the province’s exclusive jurisdiction over natural resources. This report arms us with additional, independent evidence to constitutionally challenge the two mandates.”
The findings from the tribunal indicate Saskatchewan’s economy could contract as much as 4.3 per cent by 2030, and paints a grim picture of high job losses of between 12,800 and 34,000 by 2050.
The report says the new regulations proposed by the federal government will not reduce emissions elsewhere, as any production cut could be backfilled by oil from a country with lower environmental standards.
Additional information about the Economic Impact Assessment Tribunal can be found at:
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