Gov’t passes law to protect SaskEnergy officials from carbon tax blowback

The Saskatchewan government has passed legislation that will keep SaskEnergy officials out of what one provincial minister called “carbon jail.”

On Monday, Saskatchewan’s Legislative Assembly unanimously passed The SaskEnergy (Carbon Tax Fairness for Families) Amendment Act.

According a government release, the legislation will “indemnify SaskEnergy and all current and former directors, officers, employees, agents, members, affiliates and other representatives from all damages, costs, charges and expenses, including legal fees, that the corporation or individual incurs with respect to any civil, criminal, administrative, investigative or other matter” related to refusing to collect the federal carbon tax.

On Oct. 30, Premier Scott Moe said the government would direct the Crown corporation to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas as of Jan. 1, unless the federal government exempted that source of home heating from the tax. The move was made in response to the feds’ decision to stop charging the carbon tax on home heating oil, which primarily benefits households in Atlantic Canada.

The next day, Dustin Duncan — the minister responsible for Saskatchewan’s Crown corporations — said the government was examining ways to protect SaskEnergy officials from any kind of response from the federal government.

“What I have shared privately with them I can share publicly, is that it certainly will not be our intention to proceed in a manner that would put individuals at SaskEnergy — whether that be the officers or the board members — in legal jeopardy over this …,” Duncan told reporters at the time.

“I guess if it comes to that point where somebody’s going to carbon jail, it likely will be me.”

The bill also amends The SaskEnergy Act to make the Crown the sole registered distributor of natural gas in Saskatchewan, putting the provincial government alone in the feds’ crosshairs when it came to the carbon tax.

That change means the minister responsible for the Crown corporation will be the only person who can make decisions about all carbon tax payments.

“These legislative amendments will give our government, and me as minister, the sole authority and responsibility for decisions regarding the collection and remittance of the federal carbon tax on SaskEnergy bills while also providing protection for SaskEnergy employees and board members,” Duncan said in the release.

“The passage of this legislation will enable our government to protect Saskatchewan families’ ability to afford to heat their homes this winter by removing the federal carbon tax from the natural gas bills of residential customers.”

The government said the decision to remove the federal carbon tax from SaskEnergy bills will save the average family approximately $400 in 2024. The bill is to receive royal assent on Thursday.

On Monday, the provincial government announced it also is directing SaskPower to stop collecting the carbon tax on electric home heating as of Jan. 1.

The change will help approximately 30,000 SaskPower customers in the province. According to the government, the move will reduce those customers’ power bills by an average of $21 per month.