Sask. government upset over federal oil and gas consultation

On Monday, the Canadian government released a discussion paper about, and started consultations on, its proposed new oil and gas emissions cap.

“The oil and gas sector is a major contributor to Canada’s economy. It is also Canada’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and, as such, has a critical role to play in meeting the country’s climate objectives,” read a document with the discussion paper.

As part of its 2030 Emissions Reductions Plan, the federal government wants to come up with a plan for the emissions cap and has opened consultations with the provinces, territories, industry and other stakeholders.

However, the discussions are set to centre around the two options the federal government has outlined: A cap and trade system or changes to the current escalating carbon pricing system.

Jim Reiter, Saskatchewan’s energy and resources minister, has his concerns.

“We were pretty much blindsided with it,” said Reiter.

The minister said the province wasn’t given the heads up about it until Sunday night — one day before the announcement was made.

“Without consultation, they very much streamlined it into one of two avenues which are both incredibly difficult for industry,” said Reiter.

He thinks the federal government should have talked with provincial governments and industry first and given them the opportunity for more input.

“It seems again that the federal government’s sort of calling the shots in an area that should be provincial jurisdiction,” said Reiter.

The federal government’s documents specifically say it’s not a cap on production and is instead a cap on emissions, but Reiter said that’s where there needs to be a lot of discussion.

“They’re wanting to cap emissions but there’s so much left to be determined. I mean, what does that mean if it’s a cap per company? What happens with the ability for companies to grow?” said Reiter.

“Everybody recognizes the need to lower emissions but companies in Western Canada have been doing a very good job, through technology, of doing that and there seems to be very little recognition of that.”

Reiter didn’t give any other examples of ways the federal government could cap emissions, just saying the province will be having discussions with the federal government and with industry.

The federal plan

The federal government is looking to reduce oil and gas carbon emissions in a bid to meet its goal to have the country at net zero emissions by 2050 and to make progress toward its 2030 goal.

“Canadian production will have to reduce its carbon intensity while the sector also explores opportunities to transition to non-emitting products and services,” read documentation with the discussion paper.

“Reducing oil and gas emissions is key to achieving Canada’s emission targets and driving meaningful climate action. It also will create sustainable, long-term economic growth and provide affordable, clean energy.”

The federal government said that any cap will take into consideration other regulations like provincial ones, and the committee in charge of this has been engaging with people and organizations on what it should look like and how it should be implemented.

Read the discussion paper here.

The federal government opened consultations on the emission cap this week and is expecting to have a design for the program early next year before it’s implemented. Responses to the discussion paper are being accepted until the end of September.