It seems as though the federal government will not accept Saskatchewan's position on avoiding a carbon tax for the province. The federal Environment Minister, Catherine McKenna, has sent a letter to the Minister of Environment for Saskatchewan, Dustin Duncan saying that she will not accept the province's request to not go forward with a carbon tax. 

"It is certainly our position that a carbon tax would not be good for the economy of Saskatchewan. And that's why we've put forward a plan to help to fight climate change here in Saskatchewan that doesn't include taxing the people of Saskatchewan."

"We've indicated to the federal government that we have a plan. We think that plan will do more than a carbon tax ever would while still protecting jobs and the economy of Saskatchewan. We'll see later this year when they actually do the evaluation of the plans. But it certainly is our intention to not have a carbon tax imposed on the government of Saskatchewan."

The deadline to submit carbon pricing plans is September 1.

"I think that the federal government has gone down a road where they believe that it's the jurisdiction of the federal government to impose a carbon tax. Why they would want to do that, certainly we don't understand. We believe that a carbon tax put Saskatchewan and puts Canada at a competitive disadvantage."

"We're certainly frustrated by the Government of Canda's insistence on having a carbon tax. We don't think it's the right policy for Saskatchewan.If other provinces want to put a carbon tax on their citizen, that's their right to do. We certainly think it's our right to not do that and that is going to be our position going forward."

"At the end of the day, the federal government will evaluate the plan and if they are insistent on imposing a carbon tax on Saskatchewan then we have indicated that if it comes to that, we are looking at all options  including going to court at the federal level."

He added that part of that plan includes investing in technology. 

"We had very good news when it comes to Boundary Dam 3 in Estevan that we've now captured over 2 million tonnes of CO2. This is the equivalent of removing 500,000 vehicles from our roads. October 2017 was the best month on record for BD3. We know that in a world that is not going away from coal anytime soon, in a world that there are well over 1,000 coal-fired power plants either in construction or on the books to be constructed, technology in carbon capture is a vital part of that. So we're pleased to see that it's operating to the point where we've captured over 2 million tonnes and it's a part of our plan going forward."