
Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online

A dragline working east of Shand Power Station in 2018. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
A 12-year-old child, a podcaster and a Manitoban as well as Saskatchewan Environmental Society and Citizens for Public Justice have filed for an injunction to stop Saskatchewan’s recently announced plants to rebuild its coal fleet in its tracks. In Part 1, the stage is set. In Part 2, Pipeline Online digs into the legal filing, known as the “orginating application,” itself, laying out their arguments to end coal-fired power generation for good.
International obligations
The originating application points out Canada’s international commitments to the elimination of coal power generation, including the 2015 Paris Accord and 2021 Glasgow Climate Pact which arose out of COP26. The application says, “We are living in an era of dangerous climate change, primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels. This is a fact that is beyond reasonable dispute among those who have taken the time to properly inform themselves about climate science.”
“Climate change poses an existential threat to humanity’s future and greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to address this threat. These are facts beyond reasonable dispute as well. As acknowledged by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2021:
“Climate change is real. It is caused by greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities, and it poses a grave threat to humanity’s future. The only way to address the threat of climate change is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“It is also beyond any reasonable debate that an effective response to climate change requires cooperation between all levels of Canadian government. As acknowledged by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2021:
“As a global problem, climate change can realistically be addressed only through international efforts. Any province’s failure to act threatens Canada’s ability to meet its international obligations, which in turn hinders Canada’s ability to push for international action to reduce GHG emissions. Therefore, a provincial failure to act directly threatens Canada as a whole.”
The application makes reference to not only phasing out coal, but all fossil fuels. It noted, “Various bodies in the United Nations, including the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, human rights treaty bodies, and Special Rapporteurs have repeatedly “pointed out the staggering environmental and social costs of the use of fossil fuels” and clarified the need to phase out fossil fuel production and use.
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“More specifically, in 2021:
“Two Special Rapporteurs identified coal-fired power stations and petroleum refineries as among the most heavily polluting and hazardous facilities. In addition, they called upon all countries to immediately stop constructing new coal power plants, phasing them out completely by 2030 in advanced economies and by 2040 globally. In addition, they recommended terminating all forms of financial support for unabated coal-fired power plants, immediately terminating all subsidies and export financing for all actions related to coal-fired power plants and mining of thermal coal, with the sole exception of pollution-abatement technologies that do not prolong the lives of power plants.”

Federated Co-operatives Limited Regina Refinery Complex. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
The application continues, “The Government of Saskatchewan’s Coal Decision fails to grapple with any of these constraints, including the most basic and notorious facts surrounding the human rights related impacts of climate change or the legal obligations on Canada and other states to dramatically curtail our emissions under international law to reduce these impacts on human rights. No indication is given of how the Coal Decision can be reconciled with these international law commitments and obligations.”
Notably the only reference to China in the entire document is how “China led the way in its deployment” of batter electric storage systems. No references in the application were made to Chinese greenhouse gas emissions or continued deployment of new coal-fired power generating units.
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Federal obligations
Saskatchewan has previously committed to ending conventional coal, of which there is little argument. The Saskatchewan government is now reversing that course, but the parties behind the injunction application wish to keep it on the previous track, with the implication that government’s can’t just change course on major policies.
The originating application points out, “For more than a decade, all levels of Canadian government have recognized that coal-fired generation must be phased out due to the dangerous emissions caused by the combustion of coal. The Government of Canada first introduced federal regulations on coal-fired generation in 2012 when it was led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. These federal regulations were amended in November of 2018 to accelerate the timeline required to phase out unabated coal-fired generation. Saskatchewan and the Government of Canada reached an agreement in principle to finalize an equivalency agreement for Canada’s coal-fired regulation in November of 2016, and Saskatchewan subsequently proclaimed The Management and Reduction of Greenhouse Gases (General and Electricity Producer) Regulations in December of 2017.
“Saskatchewan initially signed the equivalency agreement with respect to Canada’s Reduction of Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Coal-fired Generation of Electricity Regulations on May 3, 2019 (the “Federal Coal Regs”). A successor equivalency agreement was then executed between Saskatchewan and Canada on November 29, 2024.”
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The initial equivalency agreement saw Saskatchewan announce it would not install carbon capture on Boundary Dam Units 4 and 5. And according to an interview Pipeline Online did with SaskPower president and CEO Rupen Pandya, that was also when Saskatchewan committed to bring an additional 3,000 megawatts of wind and solar online by 2035. This was done such that the federal government would allows a few more years to be squeezed out of the operation of BD4 and BD5, now both since retired (BD5 still being available for emergency usage).

SaskPower president and CEO Rupen Pandya, speaking before Estevan City Council on Sept. 25, 2023. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
There are references in the application to the 2021 Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, 2022 Canada’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan, 2024 Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act and “On December 13, 2024, Canada proclaimed the Clean Electricity Regulations.”
That date is significant, as it was the last day before Parliament rose, meaning there was no opportunity to debate it before Justin Trudeau resigned.
The application says, “The Coal Decision puts Saskatchewan on a pathway to violate presumptively valid federal law: the CERs and the Federal Coal Regs. The Coal Decision’s statement to “not recognize the legitimacy of the federal Clean Electricity Regulations” is a direct challenge to federal law without explanation for its inapplicability. Defying federal law in this way and making highly consequential decisions without regard to it fundamentally undermine the rule of law in Canada.
“Furthermore, given the presumption of constitutionality and the principles of cooperative federalism, it is legally incorrect for the Coal Decision to state that the federal government “has no standing in the discussion” surrounding the future of coal generation in Saskatchewan.
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Charter Constraints
The application takes a page out of the playbook of many current environmental legal challenges ongoing right now, using Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms with reference to the life, liberty and security of the person. As Bronwyn Eyre, former Saskatchewan Justice Minister wrote here, this section is now being used to fight everything from bike lanes to drug injection sites.
As Eyre wrote of the parallels, “The same court agreed in 2023 with just seven environmental activists challenging Ontario’s climate plan that it is an “indisputable fact that Ontarians are experiencing an increased risk of death” from climate change.”
In listing several cases, including one filed by Wright, the application says, “While none of these cases has been fully and finally resolved on its merits, the Government of Saskatchewan is aware of credible arguments that it has obligations to address the impacts of dangerous climate change on Charter rights, in particular given that they have been sued on this basis alongside other Canadian governments.”
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It goes on, “Furthermore, while none of these cases have been finally resolved, the jurisprudence to date does support a more general proposition that climate change and regressive climate policy have disastrous implications for Charter rights. For example, Justice Vermette of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice concluded in Mathur v His Majesty the King in Right of Ontario that it was “indisputable” that human-caused climate change is increasing the risk of death and the risk to security of the person.
“Regardless of the fate of these lawsuits, Charter protections, including rights to life, liberty, and security of the person, and the underlying values these rights reflect, are clearly implicated in decisions related to greenhouse gas emissions. The Coal Decision failed to meaningfully appreciate, consider, or balance relevant Charter protections against other objectives. The Coal Decision offers no evidence that any proportionate balancing was conducted by the decision maker. Furthermore, as there are alternatives reasonably open to the decision-maker that would reduce the impact on Charter protections while still permitting sufficient furtherance of the relevant objectives, the Coal Decision is unreasonable.”
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Unreasonableness
The originating application notes, “Another hallmark of unreasonableness is a failure to explain or justify departure from past practices and past decisions. Unexplained inconsistency from decision makers poses a risk of arbitrariness and thereby undermines public confidence; for these reasons, decision makers bear a “justificatory burden of explaining” departures from long-standing practices or established decisions.
“In this case, the Government of Saskatchewan itself has characterized the Coal Decision as a “fundamental reconsideration of the future of coal in our system”. Nevertheless, the decision offered no explanation for its marked departure from the previous, long-standing position and decisions of the Government of Saskatchewan regarding the phase-out of coal-fired electricity. The Government of Saskatchewan had signed two equivalency agreements with the federal government pursuant to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, spanning a period of nearly a decade (2018-2026). Furthermore, it committed $20 million in coal transition support for the communities of Estevan and Coronach.

Poplar River Power Station, Coronach, Saskatchewan. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
“Moreover, the Saskatchewan Power Corporation (“SaskPower”), which the Coal Decision purports to direct, had embarked on a comprehensive public consultation process to solicit feedback on various scenarios for future power supply options. Throughout that consultation process, none of the scenarios presented by SaskPower contemplated refurbishing coal-fired power plants or extending the use of unabated coal-fired generation to 2050 or beyond. The Government of Saskatchewan had a justificatory burden to explain this radical departure from its past practices and decisions. The Coal Decision is unreasonable for failing to justify this radical deviation from the government’s long-standing position that unabated coal generation would be phased out by 2030.”
“Pursuant to Rule 3-60 of the King’s Bench Rules, the Applicants seek an interim stay of the Coal Decision to preserve the status quo of the parties pending the outcome of this judicial review.”
“The jurisprudence following RJR suggests that the first stage of the inquiry is quite low. Here, the Applicants are seeking judicial review of the Coal Decision alleging that the Coal Decision is illegal and unreasonable on numerous grounds. The Court should be satisfied that the claim herein is neither frivolous or vexatious. Rather, the Coal Decision represents one of the most important (and potentially costly) policy decisions on energy in Saskatchewan since the decision to install carbon capture and storage (“CCS”) on Boundary Dam #3 was made on April 26, 2011. The application herein poses serious questions to be addressed by the Court.”
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“The Applicants, and indeed all citizens of Saskatchewan and Canada, will suffer irreparable harm in terms of climate impacts, economic impacts, and health impacts should the Government of Saskatchewan be permitted to proceed with implementing the Coal Decision prior to an order from this Court in the nature of certiorari that considers the Coal Decision.”
“The third stage of the test for granting an interim stay requires an assessment of which party would suffer the greater harm in granting or refusing the remedy of the interim stay of the Coal Decision.

From left, Minister of Highways Dave Marit, MLA for Wood River; Crown Investments Corporation Minister Jeremy Harrison at Poplar River Power Station on Jan. 15, 2025. Photo submitted
“Given that the province appears to have made the Coal Decision in haste considering that only a few months prior Saskatchewan announced an additional $10 million dollars to assist Estevan and Coronach with the transition away from coal, a similar time frame to determine this application on merits is warranted.
“It is noteworthy that Saskatchewan has been committed to winding down unabated coal generation for more than 15 years. According to data published in the annual reports of SaskPower, coal generation represented 46% of gross electricity supplied in 2015, falling to 33% in 2020, and 24% in 2024.”
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During that period, SaskPower built its own natural gas-fired power stations, with roughly half the CO2 emissions of coal, at North Battleford, Swift Current and Moose Jaw, with one more under construction currently at Lanigan. The wind generation fleet grew by more than 300%, with major wind farms built by independent power producers at Assiniboia, Herbert and Kipling, with at least one and potentially two more 200 megawatt wind farms on the way. Two solar farms in the 100 megawatt-scale are planned by independent power producers at Estevan and Coronach.

Final assembly of a wind turbine near Assiniboia, Sask., on Jan. 7, 2021. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
The application continued, “It is the Applicants’ position that they will suffer much greater harm if the interim stay of the Coal Decision is refused than the Government of Saskatchewan will suffer if the interim stay is granted. The record demonstrates that Saskatchewan has been considering numerous alternatives to coal-generation for more than a decade, so presumably a few more months of delay before the refurbishment and recertification work begin will have minimal impact, particularly now that coal generation represents less than a quarter of provincial electricity generation in Saskatchewan.
“For the foregoing reasons, the Applicants suggest that the balance of conveniences favours this Court granting an interim stay of the Coal Decision until the merits of the application to quash the Coal Decision can be fully considered.”
In Part 3, Pipeline Online begins examining the affidavits of 12-year-old child, podcaster and Manitoba farmer as well as Saskatchewan Environmental Society and Citizens for Public Justice who have filed for an injunction to stop Saskatchewan’s recently announced plants to rebuild its coal fleet in its tracks. Part 3 focuses on the child activist’s affidavit.
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