Premier Scott Moe’s decision to pause Saskatchewan’s industrial carbon tax will threaten the province’s $12 million budget surplus, NDP Leader Carla Beck said.
But Moe defended the move, effective April 1, to pause the carbon tax rate under the province’s Output-Based Performance Standards (OBPS) program, which taxes large industrial emitters.
“We’re going to move forward and we’re going to defer the requirement for carbon tax payments, so what Saskatchewan families will notice is it won’t be on their SaskPower bill,” Moe said on Thursday.
However, the province’s 2025-26 budget had projected $431 million in revenue from its OBPS program.
With the entire program being paused, the official Opposition said there’s now a gigantic hole in the province’s $12 million surplus.
“They clearly have no plan when it comes to a half-a-billion dollar hole in their budget,” Beck said. “They clearly have no plan for what they’re going to do next.”
…