Provincial gov’t accused of hiding carbon tax impact report

The provincial government is being accused of burying a report on the carbon tax which showed the tax would have a less severe effect on Saskatchewan’s economy.

Last summer, the province released a report from the University of Regina which showed the carbon tax would have a big effect on Saskatchewan’s economy.

The government said that report showed that a carbon tax of $50 per tonne would reduce the provincial GDP by 2.34 per cent or $1.8 billion annually. However, soon after, there were criticisms raised in the industry on both the province’s interpretation of the report and the report itself.

However, the province had previously commissioned a report from Navius Research on the same issue which was never released. That report showed a significantly smaller effect on Saskatchewan’s economy.

NDP Leader Ryan Meili on Tuesday used words like “messed up” and “strange” and said the province hid the first report.

Meili said the province hid one report, and misrepresented the other.

“They’re playing politics instead of trying to find the best evidence instead of the best policies,” he said.

According to Environment Minister Dustin Duncan, the Navius Research report wasn’t released because the province took issue with some of the methodology. Among the problems was the use of national data as opposed to provincially specific data.

Duncan said for Navius Research to use more data in its models would have come at a cost, so the province decided not to pursue it. The province later went on to commission the University of Regina study.

Duncan said the government will give the report to anyone who asks for it, but it wasn’t posted to the government website because of the province’s disagreement with the methodology.

Talking about the two reports, Duncan pointed to the fact they came to starkly different conclusions.

“I think it shows that the methodology was an important part in an accurate picture for the province, not using national data,” he said.

Despite concerns that were later brought up with the university’s report, Duncan said he has no reason to doubt that report.

“At the end of the day, what both reports show is that there would be economic harm to the province — to varying degrees — but both showed a carbon tax is not the right approach for the province of Saskatchewan,” said Duncan.

Meili asked why the government felt the need to hide the first report if it felt its case against the carbon tax was so strong. He said it’s strange that the province kept the first report to itself when it supports the government’s argument against the tax.

“This, to me, says here’s a government that wanted to just make their all-or-nothing political argument and didn’t want to actually try to negotiate the best deal for Saskatchewan,” said Meili.