What the federal parties are offering Saskatchewan in their platforms

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Two federal party leaders made stops in Saskatoon on April 9, but both the Liberals’ Mark Carney and NDP’s Jagmeet Singh stopped short of announcing any new campaign promises that would specifically impact Saskatchewan voters.

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With election night only about two weeks away, little has been said specifically about Saskatchewan so far at press conferences and in news releases from the political parties.

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Although Carney didn’t roll out any concrete plans while visiting Saskatoon, he repeated his Calgary announcement from earlier that day about making Canada the world’s leading energy superpower. That includes both “oil and gas to displace the imports Eastern Canada takes from — you guessed it — America” as well as for “clean energy and nuclear energy,” Carney told the Saskatoon audience.

Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) Leader Pierre Poilievre has not yet visited the province during his campaign.

Leading up to the April 28 election, the Regina Leader-Post and Saskatoon StarPhoenix are providing a breakdown of what the party leaders have announced in their platforms that could directly impact the concerns of this province and the people in it.

Agriculture

Liberals’ protections for agrifoods

The Liberal Party of Canada announced measures to help safeguard the country’s food sector while visiting Granby, Que., on April 2.

According to a news release, support for farmers would include permanently doubling the revenue protection under the AgriStability Program from $3 million to $6 million per farm “in the case of significant revenue drops caused by the impacts of tariffs, extreme weather events and other external shocks.”

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The plan also includes an additional $30-million top-up for the Agriculture Clean Technology Program open to farmers and ranchers to buy new, efficient farm equipment.

The Liberals also promise to double the loan guarantee limit from $500,000 to $1 million under the Canadian Agricultural Loans Act program and expand the terms between five and 10 years.

The party also commits to building more domestic processing facilities — including in rural and remote areas — with a dedicated $200-million fund. The Liberals also vow to help food producers gain access to new markets with an additional $30 million in the AgriMarketing Program.

Electricity grid

Liberals work towards East-West electricity grid

The Liberal Party stated that it wants to work with provinces and territories to build out an East-West electricity grid to “secure Canadians’ access to affordable, reliable, clean, Canadian electricity,” said a press release detailing a list of campaign commitments made by Carney in Calgary.

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The project, while not outrightly stating that it will involve Saskatchewan, would likely be involved in a large cross-country project for its placement in the middle of the Prairies.

Resource projects

Conservatives present ‘One and Done’ plan

If elected, Poilievre announced he will create a new rule that requires “one simple application and one environmental review” for resource projects, according to a press release from a media conference in Terrace, B.C., on April 7.

One of the 10 specific national projects he’s looking to approve is the NexGen Energy Rook 1 Uranium Mine, located north of LaLoche, Sask.

The plan would be to create a Rapid Resource Project Office to handle the regulatory approvals across all levels of government. There would also be a one-year maximum wait time for project approvals, with a target of six months.

The CPC also plans to establish the Canadian Indigenous Opportunities Corporation to offer loan guarantees for local Indigenous-led resource projects.

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Liberals fast-track clean projects

Carney and the Liberal Party are promising to fast-track “projects of national interest” that will be jointly identified with provinces, territories and Indigenous peoples, according to a release related to his announcement in Calgary.

To expedite projects, the Liberals have proposed that signing Cooperation and Substitution Agreements would require only one review, with decisions made within two years “while fully upholding environmental integrity and Indigenous rights,” read the release.

The party also promised to double the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program from $5 billion to $10 billion for more Indigenous-led infrastructure, transportation and trade projects.

Pipelines

Conservatives commit to energy sector asks

Poilievre’s platform includes reducing energy reliance on the U.S. amid the trade war, he told media in St. John’s, NL, on April 1.

In response to requests from the energy sector, the Conservatives commit to repealing Bill C-69 — the Impact Assessment Act and Canadian Energy Regulator Act — in order to build “the pipelines and energy infrastructure Canada needs,” according to a press release.

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The plan also outlines shorter approval periods for projects to six months and scrapping the oil and gas sector greenhouse gas pollution cap.

Potash

Liberals invest in critical minerals

Carney announced in Calgary that his party would “kickstart the clean energy supply chain” by investing in critical mineral projects in a new First and Last Mile Fund, according to a release.

It’s unclear if this project would apply to potash projects.

Steel industry

NDP investment in steel

Singh revealed plans to invest in Canadian steelworkers under the NDP’s “build Canadian, buy Canadian” strategy at a press conference in Ottawa on April 3.

The national public infrastructure and procurement strategy would exclusively use Canadian steel and increase domestic content requirements for all federally-funded projects, the party said in a press release.

At the same time, the party would bar U.S. companies from bidding for those contracts while the American government targets Canada with tariffs.

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The NDP’s commitment to Canadian industry also looks to prioritize domestic unionized firms in public project bidding.

While in Winnipeg on April 2, Singh vowed that every dollar collected from retaliatory tariffs would directly support impacted workers in industries like auto manufacturing, steel and aluminum, according to the NDP’s press release.

Trade

Liberals diversifying trade

Speaking to media in Montreal on March 28, Carney rolled out his plan to invest in infrastructure that will allow the country to diversify its trade away from the U.S.

The Liberal Party’s plan includes allocating $5 billion into a new Trade Diversification Corridor Fund. It encourage “nation-building projects” at ports, railroads, inland terminals, airports and highways to turn the Canadian economy away from the U.S., according to a press release.

nyking@postmedia.com

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