Saskatchewan Party talking points

In May 2016 we sent a letter to then Premier Brad Wall in the wake of a Throne Speech that stirred controversy by appearing to cast doubt on climate science. The letter posed 10 questions about the premier’s stance on climate change and was signed by approximately 250 individuals and 9 organizations. The response we received the following month failed to directly answer those 10 questions and contained typical Saskatchewan Party talking points. We decided to publicly respond to each of those talking points in turn, which you can find in the links below. Note that a few of the talking points are pulled from the government’s White Paper on Climate Change, which was released in October of 2016.

We should note here that CJS is a non-partisan collective. The Sask Party has been in power since 2007 – meaning for the entirety of CJS’ existence – and in that time has been a leading dissenter on climate action in Canada. We have often been disappointed with the alternatives (or lack thereof) proposed by the Official Opposition, the New Democratic Party, and therefore lament the lack of options for Saskatchewan voters who prioritize the climate crisis. You can find our report card for each provincial party at the time of the last provincial election here.

Now, onto those talking points:

Talking point #1: “balancing” GHG reduction with economic growth

Talking point #2: carbon capture and storage

Talking point #3: renewable electricity commitment

Talking point #4: the “baseload” fallacy

Talking point #5: assessing climate change initiatives for economic impact

Talking point #6: resource sectors and the economy

Talking point #7: how long will we continue to depend on fossil fuels?

Talking point #8: “workable strategies to manage climate change issues”

Talking point #9: our share of global emissions is very small

Talking point #10: forests absorbing carbon dioxide

Talking point #11: farming practices sequestering GHGs