Sask. Premier Scott Moe shares optimism on pipeline MOU, criticizes B.C.’s David Eby

Saskatchewan’s premier says he’s optimistic about a memorandum of understanding signed between Alberta and Ottawa aiming to get a new pipeline built to Canada’s west coast.

Premier Scott Moe sat down for an interview on the Evan Bray Show on Friday to share his thoughts on the potential for a new pipeline and its effects on Canada’s economy.

Read more:

• Alberta pipeline MOU has potential to benefit Sask., experts say
• Hodgson says it’s ‘premature’ to draw conclusions about B.C. tanker ban fate
• Liberal MPs say party remains united after Guilbeault resigns from cabinet

Moe also took a shot at B.C. Premier David Eby, saying he should end his resistance to energy projects and get on board with a “Team Canada” approach.

Listen to the full interview with Moe, or read the transcript below:

The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

EVAN BRAY: So the MOU finally was signed. This is something that, obviously, we’ve been talking about a fair bit. Just your thoughts on the signing of this, the importance of it and, ultimately, what does it mean for us here in Saskatchewan?

SCOTT MOE: It’ll mean a higher price for every barrel of oil, if we’re actually able to achieve this. And yesterday is the first of many steps in creating a pathway, or a laneway, for the negotiations, the consultations, the private-sector to proponent to actually consider moving forward with this project. So yesterday was a good day for Canada. It is also the first of many decisions and a lot of work that needs to happen in order for a project like this to happen. And it’s good for the oil industry. It’s also good, indirectly, for everything else that we ship, because of every barrel of oil that is in a pipe means that there is rail capacity for things like potash and agricultural products. But here’s what I think is significant with yesterday as well: It was a really good day for Canada when you see, after a dry decade, the federal government working alongside and making concessions – both provincial and federal government – but a federal government working alongside a provincial government and supporting a Canadian industry that can bring so much value and so much wealth to Canadians, whether it be in British Columbia or Alberta or, indirectly, right across the nation. And we haven’t seen that for far too long, and yesterday was a great step forward. So I’d say credit to Prime Minister Carney, and really a credit to Danielle Smith for pushing very hard to get to that announcement yesterday.

There’s lots of bullet points in there. One of them is Alberta signing an industrial carbon-pricing agreement. Is there a likelihood that, as things continue to move forward and perhaps Saskatchewan is involved in an agreement with the federal government that will make up part of that agreement as well? Is that opening a framework to that?

MOE: We are in negotiations on that, among a few other things with the federal government as well. And there’s really three pieces to the carbon tax. In an ideal world, we’d have none of them. The first was removed, and it was on gasoline and things of that nature. Not too long ago was realized that it doesn’t help in any way. The second is a tax that is on industries that have emissions – the oil industry, and the canola crush industry as well. That tax is paid to the province, because we have put together a framework, and then we return it to those companies that pay it as they make their investments in making their operations more efficient and more sustainable. And so that is workable. The additional tax that is not workable is the one that is on electricity. As you know, we’re headed toward a nuclear future here, but that’s going to take time. It’s going to take time in order for us to do it with a reliable electrical grid and ensure that our electricity rates are affordable into the future. And so we’re in negotiations to remove that tax off of electricity, and then, if we have to, we could work with industry on the returning of the carbon tax that they pay through our Saskatchewan Tech Fund. Ideally we’d have none of it, but those are some of the negotiations that we’re in right now. And just for a proportional kind of reference, $3 out of every $4 that we would pay in Saskatchewan – we pay none today – but three out of $4 that we would pay would be on electricity. So it’d be families and businesses paying on electricity. For every $4 that we would we would submit, $3 would come from that sector, so it’s a big deal and it’s a sector where we have solutions as we head towards a nuclear future, but we need to utilize the assets we have in the meantime. And so that’s that’s the high-level negotiation that we’re working with the federal government on as we speak.

I was at Agribition yesterday for the show, and talked with lots of people, and we talked about this pipeline deal because it came down as the show was on the air, and there were a number of people who said, “You know what, I don’t trust Ottawa. This feels like a pat on the head to Alberta. ‘This will keep you busy for a while and stop you from from bugging us and and even though we’ve signed this MOU, the likelihood of this going through, because of all the roadblocks, is is not there.’” That’s a bit of a pessimistic view on it, but how do you see that? How would you respond to someone saying that?

MOE: I would mirror that concern on the new pipeline going through to the northwest coast. As I said, this is the first of many decisions. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, and a commitment for a significant investment that needs to happen, and a parallel investment in expanding oil production in western Saskatchewan and into northwest Northeastern Alberta. So that is going to be a long process and a project that might span one or two different governments. However, that’s one of three projects that I see, and the other two I think we can move on and move on quite quickly. The first is the expansion of TMX. We should start moving on that immediately. Second is what was the Keystone XL, or the K XL, now more commonly referred to as South Bow. That’s energy that’s going down into the U.S., but it is additional egress capacity. And I think the most important part of the announcement that I saw yesterday is that we do have a pathway, now, for us to expand and some certainty to attract investment to expand our oil production. With that has to be some egress. And I see those other two projects, the expansion of TMX and the KXL, as being more immediate in providing some of that opportunity to deliver oil to markets than the larger, more-talked-about project, which is a new pipe to the northwest coast.

I want to play a very short clip. This is from B.C. Premier David Eby yesterday, when he was talking about his fear that this pipeline is a distraction. This is what he said:

DAVID EBY (pre-recorded): Unfortunately, instead of having conversations with British Columbia about this project, the premier of Saskatchewan says he was engaged with Premier Smith about this pipeline project proposal. Because of that, in my opinion, Nutrien made the decision to ship out of Washington State instead of out of British Columbia.

What’s your reaction to that?

MOE: When someone makes a decision not to invest in your area, you should have a look in the mirror, not start to blame others. When it comes to premier Eby’s opposition to this pipeline, I’ll just put out a parallel thing that has happened over the last few years. There’s an LNG line that’s proposed to go to Hudson Bay. It would go through Saskatchewan and have no Saskatchewan LNG in it. British Columbia or Alberta is where the LNG would be sourced. We’re very positive and supportive of the project, to the point that four years ago we had provided some seed funding to an Indigenous organization called First People’s Pipe to start to consult along the way, so that the communities could have their say four years ago for a project that is now coming forward today, Premier Eby has done none of that work with respect to this particular project. And if we’re truly going to be part of, and give an effort to being part of Team Canada, every team I’ve played on, I want all of the players to score, not just myself. And Premier Eby isn’t sharing that same approach to this project. He feels that he can pick and choose which projects are going to land in Canadian west-coast ports, and that just simply isn’t the way. And so Nutrien has made the decision that they have made. There’s still some laneway for us, and I’ve talked to the federal government of about whether we can engage with Nutrien to try to see if there is an opportunity to attract them to Canada. And you know what? I like to see a potash port by a Canadian company, a Saskatchewan company, in Canada or in the U.S. Certainly I want to see it in Canada. But certainly I think the NDP premier of B.C. has to look in the mirror as well as to what is he doing to attract these types of investments to the west coast, because everything we’ve heard the last week or 10 days or two years hasn’t been in any way positive for an investment like this to land.

I want to shift gears here in the last couple of minutes that I’ve got you. A $10 a day daycare agreement is being signed and announced. I think it’s set for 10 this morning. Minister Hindley will be making that. I know there’s some criticism about how long it took us to sign on, and you have said there was hope that you could build some additional things into the agreement. Have there been enhancements?

MOE: Yeah, there has been. Some enhancements will be less noticed. They’ll be for the operators of the program. Actually, some of the enhancements will be on who can actually apply into the program. But here’s one that I think people will notice: under the old program, when a child turns six, they were either removed from the program or you were paying the full rate once they were, and so we’ve enhanced that so that child can actually finish their year out. There’s a few other enhancements as well that we’ve been able to negotiate. We would have liked more, and I know there’s been some questions and uncertainty the last few months around us taking some time to negotiate this, but it has been very much in our interest to negotiate a stronger deal and a more palatable and supportive deal for Saskatchewan families that are utilizing this program and, I think, really valuing this program, too. We’ve always been committed to it, but we want it to be as strong as possible and as sustainable as possible, and we’re going to sign that deal today. In fact, it was signed yesterday, I believe, but they’re going to make the official announcement today, and that will provide certainty for the sector and certainty for families for the next five years.

I mentioned I was at Agribition yesterday. I also talked with lots of ranchers from all around the province, including some from the southwest, and one of the fellows that I talked to said he had been at the legislature as well. They were wanting to talk with you, with government, about the drought that they’ve been dealing with now for the better part of a decade, and the impact it’s having on their farms. Is there room for enhancements, whether it’s with insurance or ways in which those ranchers, those farmers in that area, could be helped?

MOE: Agriculture has changed, and the risk per acre has changed immensely over the last 10 and 20 years, for sure. We had a little bit tougher year up in our area, where there were some claims that were being made. There is some enhancements that were made this year, and those enhancements have to be made with agreement to the federal government and other provinces, quite frankly, so they do move a little bit slow. However, there were some additional enhancements made this summer for specifically for drought-stricken areas, and I know that was appreciated in the area where I am. What’s different from where I am and the southwest is we’re in one tough year, and they’re at seven, eight and nine tough years in certain areas. And so I think there has to be an ongoing conversation with respect to the long-term challenges that certain areas can face. And I think, in fairness, we have that in a few areas down in the southwest. And so the Crop Insurance Corporation, which is very engaging, is always looking at “What can we do to further support farmers?” However, there’s a little bit of a slow move on it, because we do need agreement from not only the federal government, but the other provinces, when it comes to significant shifts in the in crop insurance or any of our business risk programs.