Aleana Young in the Legislature on March 20. Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
REGINA – The 2025 Saskatchewan provincial budget tabled by Minister of Finance Jim Reiter did not have a lot of new energy-related policy initiatives, but for the few that stand out, the official opposition New Democratic Party is generally supportive.
That’s according to Aleana Young, NDP Shadow Minister for Jobs and Economy, as well SaskPower. She spoke to Pipeline Online later on budget day, March 19.
The new Low Productivity and Reactivation Oil Well Program is designed to breath new life into old wells nearing their end-of-life. Asked about this program, Young said, “I think it’s fine, right? I think it’s great. Look, we’ll see how subscribed it is. We’ve been supportive of increasing out oil production. It’s still a long ways to go to hit that garget of 600,000 barrels per day.”
Young referred to the Saskatchewan Party’s goal, first announced in 2019, of increasing oil production from the current number of around 450,000 barrels per day to 600,000 barrels per day by 2030. For most of the last 20 years, with the exception of a blip in 2013 to early 2015, Saskatchewan production has been relatively flat, near that 450,000 barrels per day level.
During the October provincial election, Premier Scott Moe had spoken of aiming towards a million barrels per day eventually. That number has since been repeated by several cabinet ministers. But it was not referenced in the budget.
Asked about that, Young said, “Yeah, it’s funny how things make it into the budget and election years, then just kind of disappear for a few. But people in Saskatchewan aren’t stupid. They’re used to that by now.”
She noted that very day, Moe had referenced 600,000 barrels per day. But she would be happy to be wrong on that and see a million as the target.
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The budget designated $350,000 for a public geoscience initiative. To that, Young said, “Certainly we’re supportive and a bit impatient on developing some of our critical minerals and continuing to explore for all of Saskatchewan. We’ve got great public resources.”
The day before the budget, Minister of Crown Investments Corp. Jeremy Harrison made an announcement that SaskPower and SaskEnergy would be proceeding with orders totalling 10,000 tons of steel from the EVRAZ Regina steel mill. This announcement came just a few days after Young and Energy and Resources Shadow Minister Sally Housser joined United Steelworkers representatives on the steps of the Legislature, calling for action to assist the steel industry which has come under the gun of President Donald Trump’s tariff war. The NDP have been making an issue of supporting steelworkers for several weeks now.
Steel coil prep at EVRAZ in 2009. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
Young said of the announcement, “IT’s great that the Government of Saskatchewan decided to listen to Carla Beck’s Saskatchewan NDP. I wish they had done it two years ago.”
She wondered why the Crowns wouldn’t always be ordering from EVRAZ. When asked if the New West Partnership Agreement between western provinces prevented preferential treatment, Young pointed out that other provinces don’t seem to have an issue supporting their local business. She said the NDP has heard from steel workers and EVRAZ they’ve been cut out from procurement with Crown corporations in the past. “We’ve been consistent. It just makes sense to be using Saskatchewan steelworkers and manufacturers when it comes to public sector developments.”
“I don’t know why SaskPower or Government Saskatchewan, to put a too fine a point on it, would be happy to buy cheap Chinese steel, instead of using the Saskatchewan made steel and steel manufacturers.”
Last week both the NDP and Sask Party made similar calls for pipelines running across the country to tidewater and power transmission projects.
Young said, “It’s great that the Sask Party and is singing from the Sask NDP playbook. But look, we made an offering in good faith at the start of this Trump chasot to put aside partisanship, work collaboratively as a true Team Saskatchewan, and we’ve not been taken up on that offer.
“We’ve continued We’ve continued to meet with industry, big, small for the biggest industries in Saskatchewan, the small, small business owners, and put forward actions that we think are the best interest of this province and in building this country. The Government Saskatchewan has been nowhere on this and in the last two weeks, has decided to announce a bunch of initiative.
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“Ultimately, I’m happy. You know, folks like Mike (Day) and his (Steelworkers), about ever as are back to work, they have, they have some contracts to see them through it. There’s like 400 folks out working Regina who should be employed.”
Most of the major mainline pipelines built in Western Canada over the last 65 years have been built with IPSCO, later EVRAZ, pipe. Pipeline Online has pointed out that it is a national strategic asset, and United Steelworkers Local 5890 president Mike Day told Pipeline Online on March 20 that it is the only mill in Canada capable of producing large-diameter pipe.
Young said, “It is a national asset. Those workers are national assets. EVRAZ is not Dollaram. There’s not one on every second street corner. This is a facility, these are workers, and this is an industry that is vital to our productivity, for national industry. Certainly, to my home community, here in Regina, those are people who live in the city and who are looking for job security and economic security.
“This matters hugely when we talk about big infrastructure swings that we believe are in the best interest of Saskatchewan and Canada right now. That’s like rail lines, building those interprovincial interties, building our generating capacity, building a pipeline to the east. Heck, let’s go west, too.”
She pointed out recent polling indicates up to 60 per cent support for a pipeline in Quebec.
Notoriously, the Quebec premier said there was no “social license” for pipelines in Quebec.
Young said in the up until the 1970s, the federal government “had a huge role to play in creating new infrasctructure, here in Canada. It shouldn’t all be taxpayer dollars paying for everything all the time. There’s a huge role for part of industry to play. But this is a moment in Canadian history, and we need leaders of all political parties and across all industries to step up. We can build the infrastructure. We can build up our economic security, and we can build some energy sovereignty right in sovereignty right here in Canada, like we have to control what we can control, and put ourselves in a position of this vulnerability, and it will be such a shame if we don’t take this moment to build this country.”
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Tariffs contingency
Young said she was stunned to find the Saskatchewan budget did not have a contingency fund set aside to deal with the tariff war with the United States, noting that both Alberta and British Columbia did. In Alberta’s case, it was $4 billion, she pointed out.
“And we see nothing we know as well about the industries that are currently being impacted are steel manufacturing and farmers,” she said.
In his comments and speech, Finance Minister Jim Reiter had said that other provinces’ contingency funds were deficit spending.
“However, these contingencies are not surpluses that are set aside, they simply increase deficits that will already be funded by borrowing,” he said in his speech. “The uncertainties will show why including any amount of contingency at this time would not be realistic.
“However, we’ve been cautious on expenditures in today’s budget and prudent on revenues to put us in the best possible financial position to weather the impacts of tariffs,” Reiter said.
Young said she did not see money specifically allocated for capital spending on small modular reactors for SaskPower within the budget.
Beyond energy, Young said there were cuts in the budget to education and health care, as well as an increase in provincial debt. “This budget is really not worth the paper it’s written on,” she said.
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