APAS granted intervenor status in Saskatchewan’s Carbon Tax court case

(Last Updated On: December 11, 2018)

As the Government of Saskatchewan heads to court to fight the Federal Government’s decision to force a carbon tax on provinces that do not have a tax in place voluntarily, APAS has, until recently, been denied intervenor status in the landmark case.

In law, intervention is a procedure to allow a non-party, called intervenor to join ongoing litigation, either as a matter of right or at the discretion of the court, without the permission of the original litigants. Intervention (law) – Wikipedia

The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) announced in a press release on December 10th, 2018 that they are pleased to learn that leave has been granted in its application for intervenor status in the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal reference case on the Federal Carbon Tax.

According to the release, APAS President Todd Lewis says the organization is looking forward to ensuring that the agricultural producer’s perspective on this matter is heard.

“Saskatchewan producers manage 43% of Canada’s cropland and 35% of the grasslands,” Lewis says. “We are deeply invested in finding the best way forward for both the health of our environment and the agricultural industry.”

Saskatchewan has it’s own plan to address carbon pollution

In a press release, after the Fall Legislative sitting ended, the Government of Saskatchewan made it clear they will continue to stand by their Prairie Resilience plan, “As the threat of a federal carbon tax continues to face Saskatchewan, the Government of Saskatchewan is implementing Prairie Resilience, the made-in-Saskatchewan climate change plan supported by industry. This includes legislation introduced this fall to establish intensity-based performance standards for large emitters as well as the new Climate Resilience Measurement Framework, the first of its kind in Canada, with 25 different measures to monitor and enhance Saskatchewan’s resilience to climate change.”

“Even as our province continues to face trade, transportation and economic challenges, this session we saw a year-over-year employment increase of 9,400 jobs – the largest job gains since 2014,” Moe said. “We will continue to stand up for our province locally, national and internationally to continue this job growth and fight the Trudeau carbon tax, which will kill jobs and make our industries less competitive.”

What is APAS?
The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan is Saskatchewan’s general farm organization, based on rural municipal boundaries. APAS provides farmers and ranchers with a democratically-elected, grassroots, non-partisan, producer-run voice to government and society.
APAS was formed out of a resolution during a Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities convention to represent the views of all Saskatchewan producers on key policy issues, and has been the united voice of agricultural producers in Saskatchewan since 2000.
APAS represents Saskatchewan as a member of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and advocates on behalf of Saskatchewan producers to all levels of government.
Their Mission
The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan provides a respected, unified voice that positively influences agricultural and rural communities.Source: APAS website