The Opposition NDP continues to raise questions in the Saskatchewan legislature over a tire processing contract awarded to a California-based company lobbied for by a former Sask Party Finance Minister.Saskatoon-based Shercom Industries had done tire processing for the whole province since 2016 until the province gave a contract to Crumb Rubber Manufacturers (CRM) Tire Processing of Newport Beach, CA. CRM opened a facility in Moose Jaw for southern Saskatchewan tires. The move prompted Shercom to stop processing tires and fire dozens of employees.Prairie Sky Strategy employed former Finance Minister Kevin Doherty to lobby for CRM, as shown by the provincial lobbying registry. Similar lobbying by Doherty was connected to Saskatchewan contracts for hip and knee surgeries and mammograms for a Calgary company.On Wednesday, Opposition Ethics and Democracy Critic Meara Conway pressed Environment Minister Christine Tell in Question Period to ask if “she ever (met) with Mr. Doherty on this contract? Yes or no.”“The answer is no,” Tell replied.Conway responded that the Sask Party wanted to divest responsibility for the decision to the non-profit Tire Stewardship of Saskatchewan (TSS).However, Tell insisted, "It’s the Sask Party government that’s responsible. The regulations are clear. It’s that minister who’s responsible for the recycling program in the province."Conway asked, "How did we end up with a contract that sends value-added manufacturing out of Saskatchewan to other places? Because the TSS report laying out the business case for this is fully redacted.”Tell replied that the “Tire Stewardship of Saskatchewan is an industry, retail-led, independent board. Both northern and southern tire recycling operations were chosen through an RFP (request for proposal)."Tell said the company had made more than $10 million of investment and employed "dozens, if not 15 or 20" in Moose Jaw after being chosen "through a legitimate, bona fide process."After further questioning by Conway, Tell said, "Those members opposite and their crackerjack researchers over there" were wrong to suggest Doherty had anything to do with the contract.Tell cited the TSS 2022 annual report that showed its board approved a decision to begin negotiating with CRM for processing south Saskatchewan tires on June 6 2022, and the lobbying registry did not show Doherty's involvement until November 2022.However, according to the NDP, lobbying registry rules don't require filings to be made unless the total lobbying time exceeds 30 hours. They said this loophole makes previous lobbying on this file by Doherty a possibility.In the legislature, however, Tell countered the NDP criticisms with bluster that amused both sides of the legislature."You say one minute, go to RFP. (Then) don’t use the RFP, and that there’s something wrong with it. We’ve had enough of you," Tell said."(TSS) are the ones that decided how to split, how to divide up the province."The 2022 annual report from TSS explained that an RFP for tire recycling had been issued in 2021 “due to multiple expressions of interest from parties. The preferred processor, CRM, was prepared to bring new investment to Saskatchewan, locate in southern Saskatchewan, produce higher value products for their markets in both Canada and the US and for lower incentive fees."The report said the agreement with CRM was "based on an increased level of financial/sales transparency, the sales-based incentive payment model, and for lower incentive fees for non-value-added material such as TDA/shred." "Financial efficiencies generated by this second processor will free up funds for improving recycling rates and dealing with legacy tires. Cleaning up legacy tires could also minimize any volume impact to the existing processor. The contract aligns with the goals of the PSP.”Shercom, the unnamed "existing processor", claimed the RFP process was biased against them by design. The overview of the RFP explained."For clarity, the TSS, through this RFP, is looking to increase value-added processing in the province with new products and/or new markets and wants to minimize overlap with the offerings (products and markets) of the existing processor in the province."Tell told SaskToday.ca, the TSS had confirmed only two bidders applied to the RFP. “The only thing I know is neither of them were from Saskatchewan,” she said. “Our job is oversight of the PSP — product stewardship program. So that’s really the regulations and policies that are followed by TSS.”
