The Saskatchewan government announced the members of the Saskatchewan First Act’s Economic Assessment Tribunal and what its first referral will be.

The Saskatchewan First Tribunal will consist of five members:

• Michael W. Milani (Chair);
• Dr. Janice MacKinnon (Vice-Chair);
• Kenneth From;
• Dr. Stuart Smyth; and
• Estella Petersen.

Those members’ first order of business will be to conduct an economic analysis of the federal Government’s Clean Electricity Regulations (CER).

“The role is to determine, assess, and quantify the economic effects of federal policies and legislation on the people, businesses and industries of our province,” Justice Minister and Attorney General Bronwyn Eyre said.

Eyre said that once the tribunal has completed its analysis, they will present their findings to the Government, and it will be up to the Government to decide how to proceed.

She said that could take many forms.

“One strong possibility could be that we submit that finding as evidence in legal action in defence of and to protect Saskatchewan’s autonomy, constitutional rights and future economic prosperity.”

Eyre said while the Clean Electricity Regulations have laid out a plan, there is no cost associated with that plan for the provinces.

“The clean electricity regulations mandate no fossil fuel generated power by 2035, which means no natural gas-powered electricity, which means in Saskatchewan, the lights go out. The feds have not costed out any of this,” she said. “We hope that putting a dollar figure on the regulations’ impact will exert pressure on the federal government to fundamentally change and/or pause the regulations.”

The tribunal is expected to cost around $150,000 for salary and operating costs, with the future operational costs expected to cost about $250,000 a year.

Eyre said proposed oil and gas caps and the federal fuel standard are other federal government policies the Economic Tribunal will examine.