Saskatchewan is asserting provincial jurisdiction over its natural resources with the introduction of the “Saskatchewan First Act,” which the province says will fend off “intrusive federal policies.”
“This historic legislation will help protect our economic growth and prosperity from intrusive federal policies that encroach upon our legislative sovereignty,” Bronwyn Eyre, Saskatchewan’s justice minister and attorney general, said in a Nov. 1 news release.
Introduced as Bill No. 88, the legislation amends the Constitution of Saskatchewan to confirm the province’s autonomy and exclusive legislative jurisdiction under the Constitution of Canada over areas including the following:
- Exploration of non-renewable natural resources;
- Develop, conserve, and manage non-renewable natural and forestry resources;
- Operation of sites and facilities for generating and producing electrical energy;
- Regulation of fertilizer use, including application, production, quantities, and emissions;
- Regulation of all industries and businesses falling within the exclusive jurisdiction of Saskatchewan.
“It is time to draw the line and assert our constitutional rights.”
The act also seeks to amend the Constitution of Saskatchewan to include the following:- Saskatchewan has autonomy with matters falling under its exclusive legislative jurisdiction, pursuant to the Constitution Act, 1867.
- Saskatchewan depends on agriculture, development of non-renewable resources, forestry, and electrical energy generation and production.
- Production of the above is “critical to the well-being and prosperity of Saskatchewan and its people.”
