Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe may be headed for the carbon clink, after all.Barely a week after the province said it would refuse to collect — or remit — the share of federal carbon tax on home heating bills, federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault branded the Saskatchewan leader’s actions “immoral” and “unspeakable.” And even “criminal,” vowing unspecified “measures” to enforce compliance.If it sounds draconian, that’s because it is..“If Premier Scott Moe decides that he wants to start breaking laws and not respecting federal laws, then measures will have to be taken. We can't let that happen.”Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Guilbeault said “measures will have to be taken” against the Saskatchewan government, strongly suggesting that Moe and Dustin Duncan, the minister responsible for SaskEnergy may indeed be arrested.“If Premier Scott Moe decides that he wants to start breaking laws and not respecting federal laws, then measures will have to be taken," Guilbeault said at a press conference in response to a question from a reporter."We can't let that happen. What if somebody tomorrow decides that they don’t want to respect other federal laws, criminal laws? What would happen then if a prime minister, a premier of a province, would want to do that?" he went on."It's irresponsible and it's frankly immoral on his part. We can have disagreements about things like climate change, but to be so reckless is unspeakable, really.".It comes after Duncan stood on the steps of Parliament Hill to renounce Ottawa’s carve out for home heating oil used primarily in Atlantic Canada, arguing that it isn’t fair to people who use natural gas in other parts of the country — Alberta and Saskatchewan — that have few elected Liberal MPs.In response, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson threatened to withhold carbon tax rebates for Saskatchewan residents that would amount to around $1,600 for a family of four. But Moe said withholding the tax saved them $400 In January alone.However those threats were nothing compared to Guilbeault’s comments, which struck an ominous tone that he may indeed be prepared to arrest provincial politicians on criminal charges..It’s a dramatic escalation that confirms the worst fears of politicians such as Alberta Premier Danielle Smith who has long insisted the Liberal government’s carbon policies could result in prison for government and other officials who refuse to comply with its clean energy regulations.Smith has vowed to indemnify officials and power producers to increase baseline natural gas fired power on the Alberta grid, which is what the Saskatchewan government essentially did last month when it declared itself the sole natural gas distributor in the province to protect SaskEnergy employees for not collecting the tax..For his part, Moe was defiant. He has previously told Guilbeault to “come and get me” for breaking the law.“Apparently, it’s ‘immoral’ to give Saskatchewan families the same carbon tax break on the home heating that Trudeau gave Atlantic Canada. By the way, the carbon tax exemption for Saskatchewan families was passed unanimously in the SK Legislature,” he posted on Twitter (“X”).
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe may be headed for the carbon clink, after all.Barely a week after the province said it would refuse to collect — or remit — the share of federal carbon tax on home heating bills, federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault branded the Saskatchewan leader’s actions “immoral” and “unspeakable.” And even “criminal,” vowing unspecified “measures” to enforce compliance.If it sounds draconian, that’s because it is..“If Premier Scott Moe decides that he wants to start breaking laws and not respecting federal laws, then measures will have to be taken. We can't let that happen.”Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Guilbeault said “measures will have to be taken” against the Saskatchewan government, strongly suggesting that Moe and Dustin Duncan, the minister responsible for SaskEnergy may indeed be arrested.“If Premier Scott Moe decides that he wants to start breaking laws and not respecting federal laws, then measures will have to be taken," Guilbeault said at a press conference in response to a question from a reporter."We can't let that happen. What if somebody tomorrow decides that they don’t want to respect other federal laws, criminal laws? What would happen then if a prime minister, a premier of a province, would want to do that?" he went on."It's irresponsible and it's frankly immoral on his part. We can have disagreements about things like climate change, but to be so reckless is unspeakable, really.".It comes after Duncan stood on the steps of Parliament Hill to renounce Ottawa’s carve out for home heating oil used primarily in Atlantic Canada, arguing that it isn’t fair to people who use natural gas in other parts of the country — Alberta and Saskatchewan — that have few elected Liberal MPs.In response, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson threatened to withhold carbon tax rebates for Saskatchewan residents that would amount to around $1,600 for a family of four. But Moe said withholding the tax saved them $400 In January alone.However those threats were nothing compared to Guilbeault’s comments, which struck an ominous tone that he may indeed be prepared to arrest provincial politicians on criminal charges..It’s a dramatic escalation that confirms the worst fears of politicians such as Alberta Premier Danielle Smith who has long insisted the Liberal government’s carbon policies could result in prison for government and other officials who refuse to comply with its clean energy regulations.Smith has vowed to indemnify officials and power producers to increase baseline natural gas fired power on the Alberta grid, which is what the Saskatchewan government essentially did last month when it declared itself the sole natural gas distributor in the province to protect SaskEnergy employees for not collecting the tax..For his part, Moe was defiant. He has previously told Guilbeault to “come and get me” for breaking the law.“Apparently, it’s ‘immoral’ to give Saskatchewan families the same carbon tax break on the home heating that Trudeau gave Atlantic Canada. By the way, the carbon tax exemption for Saskatchewan families was passed unanimously in the SK Legislature,” he posted on Twitter (“X”).
