REGINA – News that Cameco had signed a nine-year deal worth $2.6 billion to supply Saskatchewan uranium to India was welcomed by the provincial government in Regina.
“It is a very great day here in Saskatchewan,” said Minister of Trade and Export Development Warren Kaeding.
“We’ve had so many positive actions and events and activities that have occured in the last 48 hours that it really positioned Saskatchewan so well, you know, into this new year when it comes to trade and relations and the opportunities that we've got for business around us.”
Kaeding himself was just back from the Brazilian state of Goias, where the province signed an MOU on creating a framework to advance trade and investment goals there. In speaking to reporters at the Legislature Monday morning, Kaeding was buoyant about the uranium deal announced during the visit of Premier Scott Moe and Prime Minister Mark Carney to India.
As for what this deal will mean for Saskatchewan exports of uranium, Kaeding said what it will do is “actually stabilize the amount of uranium that we're going to be able to export each and every year.”
Kaeding said this will provide to Cameco a “very solid plan as to the what nine to ten years of exports are going to mean to them. So that certainly helps them in developing their business plans for the next 10 years.”
He said it also will affect the other important players in the uranium sector in the north in particular.
“What you're seeing is potentially three more companies that are going to be developing uranium resources in northern Saskatchewan: NextGen, Denison, Paladin,” said Kaeding.
“And so what that does is it literally opens the door for more agreements that are going to happen as we can likely anticipate are going to happen in the next few years for them as well.”
As for what role his Trade and Export Development ministry had in getting this deal done, Kaeding pointed to their nine international trade offices.
“And what you've seen is that as we engage internationally, these trade offices are just fundamental in, first of all, building relationships and building relationships with key people, whether it's in the uranium industry, the agriculture industry, the critical mineral space. And then what you see from there is a build-out to then have elected officials, which would include the Premier, in going into these key areas to get that relationship built to the next level. And then ultimately, what we've got is a federal government that is ultimately responsible for signing these trade agreements at the national level with a national government.”
Kaeding also pointed out they previously had a trade agreement with uranium in India up to 2015.
“So it's not like this is a brand new market for us. It had expired. And what we didn't have was a federal government at the time that really felt the need or the interest in expanding that.”
The minister pointed to the change in tone from the new Prime Minister Mark Carney and his government.
“We finally have a federal government now that sees trade for what it is. And that is very valuable, certainly to support us as a province, but also to support the nation.”
One outstanding issue that still remains is the tariff situation on peas and lentils. Kaeding said that is “certainly an ongoing discussion,” but acknowledged there had not been movement on tariffs yet.
Kaeding did say this issue was “definitely a focus, I know, of the Premier when he's in India, talking to Prime Minister Modi to make sure that they understand what tariffs are doing to the pulse industry here in Saskatchewan and across Canada.”
But the minister did indicate that in the coming days that the Minister of Agriculture David Marit would be speaking about one of the major items agreed on in India.
That was for a Pulse Protein Centre of Excellence, which is going to be supported between the Canadian and Indian government, said Kaeding. “So I'll certainly let him be able to expand on what that's going to mean for Saskatchewan pulse producers.”
Premier Moe pleased with MOUs
Speaking to reporters in India, Premier Scott Moe spoke of “how pleased we are in Saskatchewan to see a number of MOUs signed with real substance.”
He pointed to the uranium deal as good for the electricity outbuild in India and for the economy “in particular northern Saskatchewan and Canada I would say as well.”
Moe also welcomed the agreement for the Pulse Protein Centre of Excellence, which he said is going to “provide a real opportunity to in part provide some additional nutritional value to many in India, literally hundreds of millions of people, but to push the value added aspect and the additional sales, essentially, of both Indian and Canadian pulses. And those are two examples of many that were signed that are going to be beneficial to both countries, and I would say that those are a great step forward and a signal to what we can achieve in getting to an agreement on a broader, comprehensive economic partnership agreement or a CEPA agreement by the end of the year, which ultimately was going to benefit Canada greatly but also be of great benefit to India.“
At the Saskatchewan Legislature in Regina, Opposition leader Carla Beck said she hadn't seen a lot of the details but said "on balance it sounds like a promising deal. Certainly knowing how important Cameco is to this province."
But Beck was less impressed with the provincial government's role in getting the deal done, accusing the government of wanting "all the adulation" when a deal gets struck, but "none of the responsibility to actually deliver the services" to people in the province.
"I think that's going to be something we'll continue to bring up in his province. Absolutely, I don't think there's anyone and certainly not on our side who doesn't want to see this province thrive. There's opportunity certainly in uranium, in mining, agriculture, and the list goes on and on. And we should be celebrating that economic activity. But the government is also responsible for decisions that ensure that all Saskatchewan people see some benefit when it comes to a thriving economy. We'll have more to say as details of that deal come forward."
Already, there is a negative reaction from the Saskatchewan Environmental Society to the deal. In a news release they raised concerns about the agreement, pointing to India’s growing atomic weapons program and ongoing refusal to sign the Nuclear Non – Proliferation Treaty.
“India refuses to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which was intended to be a prerequisite for all uranium and nuclear reactor trade between countries,” said SES board member Peter Prebble in a statement. “Selling uranium to a country that rejects the Treaty — and that in fact openly defies it — is highly irresponsible. India has also refused to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, designed to prevent nuclear weapons testing.”
