Estevan 鈥揈stevan 小蓝视频 and Minister of Government Relations and Northern Affairs Lori Carr stood before what was likely the most hostile crowd a small-C conservative politician has faced in Estevan in at least a decade, when she spoke to the Estevan Chamber of Commerce coffee talk on Sept. 4.
While there were no raised voices, there was a palpable feeling of consternation and concern among the approximately 60 chamber members in attendance, nearly filling the room.
The principle issue at hand is the future of coal-fired power generation at Estevan. Several chamber members felt that Carr has not done enough, or at least had not been visible in fighting for coal鈥檚 future in the Energy City. Several criticisms to that effect have been floating around on social media in recent weeks, as well as a letter-writing campaign by the chamber advocating for coal. This led Carr to address those concerns in her 15-minute opening statement.
She thanked them for their passion fighting for the community. She said there had been a misrepresentation in one aspect, namely that supposedly there had been no response to some letters. 鈥淥f all the letters that I had received, a couple had no telephone number and no address, and I didn鈥檛 recognize the name, so I didn鈥檛 respond to those people. All of the responses came out of the premier鈥檚 office,鈥� she said, but noted one had been missed. She accepted responsibility for that and called that person.
鈥淚 can assure you I stand with our coal workers and SaskPower workers, and their families. These people are what I believe helps make our community what it is today,鈥� she said, pointing out that the Saskatchewan Party government had spent $1.4 billion on carbon capture and storage (CCS), the largest per capita investment in North America.
鈥淪askPower鈥檚 decision not to retrofit Boundary Dam (Units) 4 and 5 with CCS was due to the age of these facilities, the size of these facilities, and the low cost of natural gas. Estevan has strong potential as a location for future energy generation,鈥� Carr said, pointing to the existing transmission infrastructure and skilled workforce.
The June equivalency agreement on Boundary Dam Units 4 and 5 extended their lives beyond 2019, she noted, and added that both she and the premier wanted to be clear, 鈥淐oal will continue to be a valuable part of power generation in this province for the foreseeable future.鈥�
Recent changes in carbon taxation on natural gas power generation have put the planned Moose Jaw power station on hold. 鈥淲hat seemed like a much more economical option has turned into a much more expensive option, so SaskPower is currently re-evaluating all of their options.鈥�
Under the current regulations, Boundary Dam Unit 6 is good until 2027, and Shand until 2029.
Carr said she had attended a coal transition meeting last month, and had been keeping abreast of those ongoing meetings. She explained that it was important for her to attend cabinet meetings and the legislative session. The day before she met the person hired to assist with the coal transition.
鈥淚 can see the frustration,鈥� she said.
Taken to task
Josh LeBlanc was the first to stand up, taking ownership of the campaign targeting Carr.
鈥淭he accusations were me,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he point is 小蓝视频 missed, Minister Carr. Estevan has, in my opinion, a lack of advocacy.鈥�
He felt those letters should have been responded to by her, not the Premier鈥檚 office. 鈥淚 invite you to come with me and sit across the table with people who are bawling, because their jobs are gone, there鈥檚 so much stuff going on in this community right now that people just don鈥檛 know what to do. We have a government that is closing units that hasn鈥檛 even done an economic impact assessment on the community. What was the plan? Now it鈥檚 up to Estevan, the economic development board, and everybody else to do the work the provincial government should have done before those made those decisions. And the response we got from you in March was, 鈥業f you have an old car, you don鈥檛 put more money into it.鈥�
鈥淏ut you find another car. That鈥檚 the response that it should have been,鈥� LeBlanc said.
鈥淲hat is your plan?鈥� he questioned. 鈥淵ou stand up for Estevan with Scott Moe and the Saskatchewan Party, when is your plan is going to be to stand up for Estevan? How are you going to get there and when are you going do it?"
鈥淲ell, I am standing before you today, and I鈥檝e been standing with this constituency and this community since the day I was elected,鈥� Carr replied. She said she was please she had stood behind Moe, and, 鈥淚 truly believe he is our best bet, moving forward for this constituency, because I know he truly believes in carbon capture and sequestration.鈥�
She said it was a conscious decision to send one letter back in response to the letters sent to various ministers, and the premier had wanted to pen that letter.
鈥淚鈥檓 truly sorry if anyone felt slighted they didn鈥檛 get a personal letter from me,鈥� Carr said.
Jackie Wall said, 鈥淲e are disappointed in Scott Moe.鈥�
Wall said she had asked Moe what the plan to transition coal communities was, and his answer was, 鈥淣one.鈥�
鈥淐oronach is going to be decimated,鈥� Wall said.
鈥淲e shouldn鈥檛 have businesses calling, saying they can鈥檛 keep going because their taxes have gone up.鈥�
Carr said that the next reassessment will reflect current property values in 2019. She said, 鈥淲e all know things are going very slow in Estevan. Some stuff is moving, some stuff is not moving, and it鈥檚 all based on the sales that have actually happened.鈥�
Government is failing
Brian Senchuk said, 鈥淭he provincial government has come in and rode a high of the oil boom. That鈥檚 still what their premises is. What you鈥檙e going to be measured on is what you鈥檙e going to do in the situation, right now. Right now, I think the government鈥檚 failing.鈥�
He added, 鈥淎ll I hear is excuse after excuse. I was very disappointed in the way the government responded to the decline. They weren鈥檛 prepared for the decline, you got yourself into financial problems, and now we鈥檙e all paying for it.鈥�
Regarding the lack of movement on the new nursing home, he said, 鈥淲e hear nothing but excuses, excuses.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e done listening to excuse after excuse. We need action. And your government is going to be rated on how you react to the downturn in the environment versus what you did back when everything was booming. We can all do well when everything is coming in, and you don鈥檛 have to work for it. But now you鈥檙e 小蓝视频 measured.
鈥淎nd right now, you鈥檙e failing.鈥�
Carr said, 鈥淪ince I鈥檝e been there, we鈥檝e been in the downturn.鈥�
The first budget was tough, she said. 鈥淲e cannot rely on resource revenue for our main stream of income, and when resource revenue does decline, we need to be able to not raise taxes and have that additional income there to keep moving forward.鈥�
She said she would take his message back.
Another question regarded small modular nuclear reactors, implying they should be in Estevan.
Carr said, 鈥淭he place that makes sense is the city of Estevan,鈥� with existing transmission lines and a skilled workforce.
One question took issue with the idea of importing up to 20 per cent of our power from Manitoba Hydro in the future.
Carr replied that she believes we need to generate our own power in Saskatchewan.
Plan B?
Josh Biggs said the early indications on coal transition were made in 2012. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 hear much about Plan B,鈥� he said, with regards to the shut down of Units 4 and 5, which had been imminent if an equivalency agreement hadn鈥檛 been reached. 鈥淗ow did we get to that situation, without a Plan B, with hundreds of workers out of a job Jan. 1, 2020?鈥�
Carr said Saskatchewan is working on the federal government鈥檚 timeline, and thankfully an equivalency agreement had been reached before that happened. Jobs within SaskPower will be dealt with through attrition.
She acknowledged, 鈥淥nce these units are closed, they鈥檙e gone.鈥�
Wall questioned why governments always seem to put off decisions, saying, 鈥淲hy does it have to be the last minute with government? Why does it have to be 2023?鈥�
Carr responded that with goalposts 小蓝视频 moved by the federal government, as a rule, you make the decision as close to whatever date it is, so the goalposts aren鈥檛 moved.
鈥淐hange is hard, and uncertainty is not easy,鈥� Carr said.
Another woman said Estevan had lost hundreds, if not thousands of jobs, already. 鈥淓verybody is operating under a sense of fear. No business is investing. No people are investing. No homes are selling. Nobody wants to come here. Everybody wants out. So what do we do now, never mind 10, 20, 30 years down the road?鈥�
Carr replied the province has been putting in manufacturing and tax incentives to encourage businesses to move to communities like this. 鈥淲e just need to figure out how to get them to our community,鈥� she said, adding there are numerous incentives, including a recent one for oil and gas.
One man said, 鈥淚 think what I want is a bit more fight from you for this area. I鈥檓 not saying you鈥檙e not doing your part, but I think a little bit of stand up and fight and pushback for this area will make a world of difference, not only for you, but the area.鈥�
