Canada wants to phase out coal plants, which burn thermal coal to generate electricity, because they\u2019re the highest-emitting<\/a> sources of carbon pollution and air pollutants in the country. Not only do they emit carbon dioxide<\/a>, which is driving climate change, they can also emit nitrogen dioxide<\/a>, sulphur dioxide<\/a> and mercury<\/a>, which are all on Canada\u2019s toxic substances list<\/a> and have been linked with respiratory diseases<\/a>, cardiovascular diseases and acid rain<\/a>. Ontario\u2019s decision to decommission coal plants followed findings that this pollution was costing the province\u2019s health care system $1 billion per year<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Saskatchewan Crown Investments Corporation Minister Jeremy Harrison has said the province will \u201cnot comply<\/a>\u201d with federal Clean Electricity Regulations<\/a>, which were finalized in December 2024 and put limits on emissions from fossil fuel electricity<\/a> generation starting in 2035<\/a>. Harrison has said they would create a financial burden on the province and lead to job losses.\u00a0<\/p>\n Both the regulations<\/a> to phase out coal power and to limit power plant emissions are part of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act<\/a>, which regulates toxic substances and was upheld as constitutional<\/a> by the Supreme Court of Canada. Dabrusin, as the minister responsible for the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, has the power to intervene<\/a> when a party is about to violate the law or its regulations.<\/p>\n She can seek an injunction, for example, to prevent a violation, and if a government agency is ignoring an injunction, she can seek a court order to comply or a contempt of court ruling, among other options.<\/p>\n The Narwhal asked the minister\u2019s office on Feb. 20 if she plans on using the powers of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act to intervene and ensure either or both of the two regulations are followed.<\/p>\n Dabrusin\u2019s press secretary Keean Nembhard pointed to a statement from the minister posted on the social network X<\/a> six months earlier, which said phasing out coal was essential for cutting emissions, protecting clean air, supporting public health and meeting climate commitments.\u00a0<\/p>\n The post reiterated that federal regulations \u201crequire the phaseout of all unabated coal-fired power plants by December 31, 2029.\u201d Unabated means emissions that are released into the atmosphere without any technology like carbon capture.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will continue to work with provinces and territories to ensure that all legal requirements and climate commitments are met, while supporting a reliable and affordable transition to clean energy,\u201d the minister stated.<\/p>\n Nembhard also sent a statement to The Narwhal featuring the same quotes.<\/p>\n The federal and Saskatchewan governments signed a deal<\/a> in 2024 that lets the province temporarily avoid the coal phase-out rules, but it expires at the end of this year. <\/p>\n It says Saskatchewan agreed to have a generating capacity made up of at least 30 per cent non-emitting electricity sources by the end of 2024, 34 per cent by 2027 and 40 per cent by 2030. According to SaskPower figures from June 2025, it appears to have met the 2027 target for total capacity<\/a>, but how much those different sources contribute to the grid fluctuates regularly.<\/p>\n Saskatchewan Environmental Society will be \u2018encouraging\u2019 Dabrusin to intervene<\/p>\n Canada and the United Kingdom co-launched the Powering Past Coal Alliance in 2017 with the goal of phasing out coal power<\/a> worldwide. At the United Nations climate summit in November 2025, Dabrusin said the \u201ccoal-to-clean transition is inevitable<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n In January, a Saskatchewan court dismissed a citizen-led<\/a> legal challenge against the coal-power extension plan, saying it was a matter of government policy.<\/p>\n The applicants \u2014 Citizens for Public Justice, the Saskatchewan Environmental Society and three individuals \u2014 have filed a notice of appeal<\/a>. They say the province\u2019s decision, which could see its coal plants still active into the 2040s, violates federal law and was made without sufficient public consultation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to be encouraging the federal minister to consider getting involved in objecting to the Government of Saskatchewan\u2019s decision to keep its coal-fired power plants running,\u201d Peter Prebble, a member of the board of directors of the Saskatchewan Environmental Society, said in an interview.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be helpful if the federal minister actually intervened and said to Saskatchewan, \u2018You can\u2019t do this,\u2019 because she does have that authority.\u201d<\/p>\n Saskatchewan law claims province has \u2018autonomy\u2019 over carbon pollution controls<\/p>\n The Saskatchewan legislature passed the Saskatchewan First Act<\/a> in 2023, which claims the province has \u201cautonomy<\/a>\u201d over several areas including electricity generation, and any conditions affecting it, such as environmental standards and the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.\u00a0<\/p>\n The province established a tribunal<\/a> under that law to examine the federal clean electricity rules. That tribunal produced a report claiming the rules would be a massive financial burden.\u00a0<\/p>\n Saskatchewan\u2019s Harrison then used the tribunal\u2019s findings to claim the federal rules were \u201cunconstitutional,\u201d<\/a> \u201cunaffordable\u201d and \u201cunachievable\u201d and to declare that the province \u201cwill not comply with them.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2025, he wrote a letter<\/a> to SaskPower saying the Government of Saskatchewan had made the decision to extend the life of its coal power plants as a \u201cbridge\u201d to building a new fleet of nuclear power plants.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe certainty and security of coal means that it will continue as a pillar of our electrical generation system as we bridge to a nuclear future powered by Saskatchewan uranium,\u201d Harrison wrote in the letter.<\/p>\n That nuclear future will not come until the mid-2030s, and perhaps later. The Crown corporation is planning<\/a> for a small modular reactor<\/a> to be built around that time. It also announced in January it was just beginning another process<\/a> to evaluate large nuclear plants, which take longer to build.<\/p>\n The Narwhal reached out to Harrison\u2019s office and SaskPower but did not receive a response by publication time.<\/p>\n The many alternatives to continuing to rely on coal<\/p>\n Prebble argued there are better and cheaper alternatives to extending the life of coal power. The province could upgrade its grid connections with Manitoba to import more hydropower, generated from dams on the province\u2019s rivers, he said, or invest in electricity efficiency and conservation. He also advocates for boosting renewable capacity in Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got the best solar resource in the country, and we\u2019re barely using it. Less than one per cent of our electricity is coming from solar,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got an incredible wind resource. Energy storage technologies are improving. There\u2019s lots of potential for co-generation of electricity,\u201d he added. \u201cThere were lots of other options.\u201d<\/p>\n The Canada Energy Regulator estimates southern Saskatchewan has some of the highest solar photovoltaic potential<\/a> in Canada as well as some of the highest wind energy potential.<\/p>\n![\"Environment](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/CP175740068.jpg\"\/)
Six months ago, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Julie Dabrusin stated in a social media post that phasing out coal was essential for cutting emissions and meeting Canada\u2019s climate commitments. But the minister\u2019s office has been quiet about whether it will intervene in Saskatchewan\u2019s decision to extend the life of its coal plants. Photo: Patrick Doyle \/ The Canadian Press<\/p>\n![\"Canada](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/CP28451113.jpg\"\/)
Saskatchewan committed to increasing its non-fossil fuel electricity generation by the end of 2024, to avoid federal coal phaseout rules, but that agreement expires at the end of 2026. Photo: Larry MacDougal \/ The Canadian Press<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/CP2879206.jpg\"\/)
In 2014, the coal-powered Boundary Dam Power Station near Estevan, Sask., became the first power station in the world to use carbon capture and storage as an emissions-offsetting initiative. But many argue the process \u2014 capturing carbon emissions and burying them in the ground before they enter the atmosphere \u2014 is just a band-aid solution to the larger issue of fossil fuel reliance. Photo: Michael Bell \/ The Canadian Press<\/p>\n