On Thursday, the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) voted by a wide margin to recognize what scientifically literate people all over the world already know. At their annual convention taking place in Regina, SARM voted by a 95-percent margin to recognize that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant and that the Canadian government’s attempts to target the naturally occurring gas because of its alleged role in climate change are “illogical [and] dangerous to the balance of natural food production.”
SARM describes itself as “the voice of rural Saskatchewan,” and advocates for rural municipalities in government.
For some time, Saskatchewan’s provincial government has been at odds with the Canadian federal government in Ottawa over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “net zero” emissions ambitions. Previously, the province announced that it will stop collecting and stop remitting Canada’s carbon tax to Ottawa. Federal officials in Canada have responded by cutting carbon rebate payments to Saskatchewan citizens.
Carbon dioxide produced from mankind’s emissions from fossil-fuel use is said to be a large contributing factor in climate change, and climate alarmists such as Trudeau believe that those emissions constitute carbon “pollution,” hence the federal government’s push toward a “net zero” energy grid by 2035.
Saskatchewan businesses vehemently disagree.
“CO2 is the building block of life and fuels. Photosynthesis CO2 is not a pollutant and to call it a pollutant is disingenuous,” stated the resolution. “Any policies that are designed to punish the critical natural CO2 cycle are not only illogical but dangerous to the balance of natural food production.”
SARM further called upon Saskatchewan’s provincial government to remove itself from any national agreements seeking “net zero” emissions.
“SARM will ensure that any policies that unduly target naturally occurring CO2 will be deemed as illogical and dangerous. We move that Saskatchewan remove itself from any national or international agreements that reference net zero,” the resolution stated.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has been at war with Trudeau and the federal government in Ottawa over what he claims is an unfair assessment of Canada’s carbon tax, which penalizes his province while giving eastern provinces unwarranted exemptions.
In October, Moe laid out his issues with Trudeau’s unfair administration of the carbon tax while announcing that his province wouldn’t be paying it anymore.
“Last week, Prime Minister Trudeau announced a three-year exemption on the carbon tax for home heating oil. This exemption is primarily for families in Atlantic Canada where heating oil is used in 40 percent of their homes,” Moe explained in October.
Home heating oil supposedly produces more emissions than natural gas, but this doesn’t matter to Trudeau and the Liberal government.
“Home heating oil is used primarily in one part of the country and it has higher greenhouse gas emissions than other heat sources like natural gas that is used in most Saskatchewan homes,” Moe explained. “So the prime minister chose to make life more affordable for families in one part of the country while leaving Saskatchewan families out in the cold.”
The fairest thing, and the most reasonable thing, would be to get rid of the unnecessary carbon tax altogether. But given Trudeau’s extreme buy-in on the climate cult’s agenda, that seems unlikely.
“Of course, the real solution would be for the federal government to scrap the entire carbon tax on everyone and everything. But until that happens, it needs to at least be applied fairly across Canada,” Moe said.
Recently, Trudeau clapped back at the reticence of Saskatchewan to obey federal climate rules.
“You can’t opt-out of Canada. We are a country of laws. We are a country of rules and responsibilities.”
The federal carbon tax in Canada is set to jump from $65/tonne up to $80/tonne on April 1.
Ottawa has announced that Saskatchewan citizens will not receive their carbon rebate payments since the province has ceased to contribute to the federal government’s scheme. The federal government boasts that 90 percent of the carbon tax collected will be returned to citizens in the form of these rebates.
