The much-discussed equivalency agreement between the provincial government and their federal counterparts has been delayed, but Dustin Duncan, the minister responsible for SaskPower, says there鈥檚 no reason for residents of southeast Saskatchewan to panic.
It was revealed last week that the agreement, which would extend the life of Units 4 and 5 at the Boundary Dam Power Station, would have to go through another 60-day consultation period at the federal level for procedural reasons.
In an interview with the Mercury, Duncan said he has the order in council (OC) from cabinet that allows him to sign the document once it鈥檚 ready, assuming there aren鈥檛 any major changes that the federal government wants to make to the agreement.
鈥淚 think this is more just the technical process part of the federal process,鈥� Duncan told the Mercury.
He is confident that once the latest 60-day period is finished, the two sides will be in a place to ratify the equivalency agreement.
The equivalency agreement was included in the Canada Gazette at the end of December; at the time, people had 60 days to comment on it or raise concerns. Duncan said those 60 days would have expired on Feb. 28 or March 1.
鈥淲e鈥檙e now informed that the federal minister has an order in council, but that, too, has a 60-day (consultation period) attached to it, so we could be now looking into April or May. It鈥檚 a technical process issue with the federal government. It鈥檚 not something that we have as a part of our process.鈥�
To Duncan鈥檚 knowledge, there weren鈥檛 any concerns raised on the federal side with the equivalency agreement during the first 60-day consultation, but any feedback that comes in would go to the federal government, rather than the provinces.
鈥淣othing has been flagged with me that would cause me to be concerned, so we鈥檒l wait until the federal government is in a position where the minister can sign the agreement. It鈥檚 just a little bit later in the spring than we thought.鈥�
Duncan admits he was surprised that there鈥檚 another 60 days of consultation after getting the OC at the federal level.
鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 out of line in terms of their process. It鈥檚 certainly different from ours, but it鈥檚 not something I鈥檓 overly concerned about.鈥�
Duncan is confident that once this latest 60-day period is finished, the deal could finally be signed. If the feds do want to make any changes, they would have to come back to the province, but Duncan doesn鈥檛 anticipate that will happen, since Catherine McKenna, the federal minister for Environment and Climate Change Canada, has the order in council through her cabinet.
If the equivalency agreement isn鈥檛 in place this year, then Units 4 and 5 at Boundary Dam would have to shut down on Dec. 31. Duncan said they would like to have an agreement in place well before that date.
鈥業 think it鈥檚 no secret that we were hoping to have the equivalency agreement in place and signed even before the end of 2018. I would have liked to have it in early 2018. That obviously didn鈥檛 take place. But there鈥檚 nothing that is a concern for us, knowing that it appears the federal government is going to sign the equivalency agreement.鈥�
The only way he would be concerned would be if the end of the year approaches, and an equivalency agreement wasn鈥檛 in place, because the units can鈥檛 be operated without one.
鈥淚t appears that the federal government is going to sign the equivalency agreement,鈥� said Duncan. 鈥淭he federal minister taking an order in council to the federal government is a pretty good indication. She wouldn鈥檛 have done that if she wasn鈥檛 ready to sign the agreement.鈥�
If the equivalency agreement is signed, then Unit 4 will be due to come offline at the end of 2021, and Unit 5 will come offline three years later.
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