Saskatchewan Economy Minister Bill Boyd responded to criticism of the province’s potash royalty regime.
Speaking on News Talk Radio’s John Gormley Live, the minister lashed out at Jack Mintz, the director of the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy.
Mintz referred to the provincial royalty structrure as a “tangled thicket of royalties, taxes and credits” and went on to describe it as the worst such system in the country in a recent report he delivered in Saskatoon. The report called on the province to simplify the royalty regime.
Boyd said Mintz has aired these concerns before, but industry appears to be fine with the royalty system as-is.
“The industry doesnt come to us at all on any kind of a regular basis and say ‘we need to have changes here.’ They don’t say that at all. In fact, I think they’re relatively happy with [the system] given the level of investment and the job numbers that are associated with the industry,” he said.
Boyd did acknowledge that the royalty system could be considered complex, but he said this was a reflection of the complex nature of the industry, which sees multiple grades of potash produced in the province for a wide range of applications.
He took particular exception with Mintz’s assertion that the province doesn’t review its policies on a regular basis.
“I think Mr. Mintz has very wrongly said it just doesn’t happen. Every single year it happens. We take a look at our taxation levels on everything — whether it’s the provincial sales tax, corporate tax [or] resource revenue taxes,” he said.
Finally, Boyd said tinkering with the royalty regime risked hurting investment in the potash industry.
“When you set these systems in place, then companies start making very significant investment choices, billion dollar decisions that they make. At that point when you come back to them and say ‘oh, by the way we’ve decided to make some changes,’ they have some concerns about that,” he said.
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