REGINA – Opposition New Democrats made clear their frustrations with the government Monday, accusing them of throwing roadblocks in the way of their access to reports SaskPower received on extending coal fired generation.
At a news conference Monday at the Legislature, Opposition Leader Carla Beck said that on June 1, they submitted two Freedom of Information requests asking SaskPower to hand over all reports from Hatch Engineering and Rockford Engineering on the government's plans to rebuild and extend the life of coal plants in Saskatchewan. The engineering reports in question covered work between Jan. 2025 and May 2026.
Beck said that on June 30, SaskPower “sent an answer, sort of, to our request to see these reports.”
“We didn't get the reports, but instead we got a bill for almost $8,000. $8,011.50, to be precise. And this letter also demanded that half of the bill be paid up front before they even started processing our request.”
Beck added the letter said that after the bill is paid, “some or all of the information still might not be forthcoming.”
The FOI requests were part of the Opposition’s sustained attack on the government over their “$26 billion coal catastrophe” — a tag line the NDP has used frequently to describe the government's plan to extend coal power generation to 2050 as part of the transition to nuclear power generation. The government has continually disputed the NDP's $26 billion figure, saying the true capital cost is closer to $2.6 billion."
Beck said of the engineering reports that this was “work that Saskatchewan people paid for. Saskatchewan people own SaskPower, and it will be Saskatchewan people who are on the hook for the costs of this plan, these decisions, for decades.”
She demanded Premier Scott Moe and Minister for SaskPower Jeremy Harrison waive the fees and immediately release the engineering reports. Beck also called for “the complete financial engineering and risk analysis behind the plan to be made public.”
“Saskatchewan people deserve that. Saskatchewan people should not have to pay thousands of dollars to find out what work has been done by their Crown Corporation. They deserve to know the facts before Scott Moe takes us any further down this path and locks this province into decades of debt and higher power bills.”
Beck added that Premier Moe “has a choice. He can release the reports, answer the questions and face the consequences of his decisions, or he can continue to hide until Saskatchewan people show him the door.”
In response to the NDP news conference, the government issued a statement explaining the rules behind FOI requests in the province.
They stated that under Saskatchewan’s legislation, “public bodies are legally required to calculate processing fees. If the total estimated search and preparation fee exceeds $100, the public body must provide a written estimate to the applicant. The estimate can only be based on the prescribed time and cost to prepare the materials. This includes $15 per half hour for searching and preparing records.”
“If the applicant believes the estimated fee is unreasonable or calculated incorrectly, they can request a review by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Saskatchewan.”
