Saskatchewan’s $21 billion budget passed in the legislature but not without controversy over whether the books are balanced. On Wednesday, Premier Scott Moe announced that the province would pause its industrial carbon tax. The decision may put a $431 million dollar hole in the province’s budget calculations. “On one hand we’ve got Chinese tariffs on canola, Putin’s products flooding world markets while he continues to kill Ukrainians and impending Liberation Day on Tuesday in the U.S. which means more tariffs and more pain here in Saskatchewan,” NDP MLA Sally Housser argued in Question Period. In addition to the possible shortfall due to the tax cut – the budget contains no provision for tariff impacts. Finance Minister Jim Reiter stands behind his revenue and expense projections. “The members opposite have been asking for affordability measures, Mr. Speaker. They’ve been asking for support for industry in the face of all these tariffs,” he told the assembly. “That’s what the announcement on carbon tax did today.” The premier called any changes immaterial. Industrial carbon tax revenue was earmarked for innovation funds and development of small modular reactors. The province will consult affected industries on moving forward without the tax. “What we are doing here today is deferring the OBPS program and we feel that will have an immaterial effect on the budget, but we will have a consultation program with industry on how we would be able to exit that program,” Moe told reporters Thursday morning. There is a federal backstop that kicks in where a province fails to implement carbon pricing large emitters. Ottawa could take action over Saskatchewan’s decision to pause the industrial carbon tax, a move that Saskatchewan says it would challenge.
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