Farmscape for July 3, 2018

Saskatchewan's Environment Minister says more than any other province in Canada a federally mandated carbon tax will harm Saskatchewan's economy.
A University of Regina Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainable Communities analysis has determined a federally imposed carbon tax would dramatically reduce Saskatchewan's gross domestic product while having a minimal impact on greenhouse gas emissions.
Saskatchewan Environment Minister Dustin Duncan says the study confirms a carbon tax will only harm Saskatchewan's economy

Clip-Dustin Duncan-Environment Minister Saskatchewan:
Saskatchewan's economy is unique in that it is the number one economy in Canada when it comes to GDP that is based on exports.
47 percent of Saskatchewan's GDP is based in export and trade.
What the model shows is that a carbon tax of up to 50 dollars per tonne will see a reduction in the provincial GDP by 2.43 percent or by about 1.8 billion dollars annually.
Cumulative to the end of 2030, when the 50 dollar per tonne is to be in place, that could have a negative impact on our GDP of approximately 16 billion dollars and at the same time would only see about a 1.25 percent reduction in Saskatchewan's emissions.
What I think the research backs up is that a carbon tax will not do anything substantial when it comes to emissions reductions but it will harm our economy because Saskatchewan's economy, more than any province in Canada, we are trade exposed, we are energy intensive.
For the most part major pillars of our economy such as oil and agriculture, we're price takers, not price makers and so what I think the study does show is that our numbers for Saskatchewan specific tell a very different story than what the federal government has been telling using national numbers in any of the modeling that they've released to this point.

Duncan says either the federal government does not know what impact a carbon tax will have on Saskatchewan's economy or doesn't care.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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