The Government of Saskatchewan introduced The Saskatchewan First Act, which will confirm the province’s autonomy and exclusive jurisdiction over its natural resources.

It would also set up a tribunal to determine economic harms caused by federal environmental policies.  

The act says Saskatchewan has jurisdiction over the following:

• Exploration of non-renewable resources.
• Development, conservation and management of non-renewable natural and forestry resources.
• Operation of sites and facilities for the generation and production of electricity.
• Regulation of all industries and businesses falling within provincial jurisdiction.
• Regulation of fertilizer use.

• Saskatchewan has autonomy with matters falling under its exclusive legislative jurisdiction, pursuant to the Constitution Act 1867.
• Saskatchewan depends on agriculture, the 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.”

Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre said the bill isn’t about fed-bashing for kicks.

“This is about quantifying, assessing and defining economic harm. It’s about our place in this federation and our responsibility to foster economic growth.”

Eyre said the bill could help establish a legal basis for challenging federal regulations that hurt industries.

“We would look, for example, at defining, quantifying, assessing that economic harm in dollar-figure terms and potentially using that as evidence in a future case.”

The bill would help in court cases surrounding jurisdictional debates, said Mitch McAdam, director of the provincial government’s constitutional law branch.

“It’s not just symbolic. That’s something that the courts can look to and can be an interpretive aid when the courts are called upon to decide where that boundary line is.”

He stated that there is nothing in the amendments that say that the province could disregard federal laws or that federal laws would no longer apply in Saskatchewan.

“What the law does is it recognizes that is the role of the courts, and the courts are the ultimate arbiters of where that dividing line is between federal and provincial jurisdiction.”

He said the bill could also inform future decisions when there is a request for an injunction or the government files a reference to the Court of Appeal to get its opinion on a matter.

“It will give us those tools that we will need to take that case forward to the court.”

with files from The Canadian Press