Conservatives Call on Feds to Repeal CP Rail Tax Exemption in Saskatchewan Law | The Canadian News

Conservative members of the Saskatchewan Parliament are urging the Trudeau government to support the amendments to the Saskatchewan Act by passing a motion tabled in the House of Commons.

On Monday, Regina-Qu’Appelle MP Andrew Scheer announced on behalf of the Saskatchewan Conservative Regional Caucus that they are pushing for Section 24 of the law to be repealed before the House of Commons.

Section 24 contains an exemption for the Canadian Pacific Railway from multiple Saskatchewan provincial taxes.

Members of the Saskatchewan Legislature adopted a motion to amend the Saskatchewan Act and the Constitution of Canada during the fall session of the legislature.

Now, Scheer and his colleagues hope that the federal government will not delay in showing the province its support on this matter.

“Currently, CP Rail is trying to use a clause in Saskatchewan Law as a justification to avoid paying provincial taxes on its main line,” said Scheer. “This would result in a dramatic loss of revenue for the provincial government.”

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Scheer mentioned that Parliament must pass its own motion for the provincial legislature’s motion to take effect.

Once approved by the House of Commons and Senate, Scheer said he would amend the constitution bilaterally.

“Whatever justifications may have existed in 1881 to justify a special tax exemption for a railroad in 2021? No such justifications can be given, ”he added.

“There really is no public policy justification for granting a tax exemption to a multi-million dollar rail company that would put tremendous pressure on provincial services, which is not fair. Nor would it treat other companies operating in Saskatchewan fairly. “

Scheer hopes the motion will pass “expeditiously” to provide certainty to the province.

He said the motion is on notice paper, which means it can be moved at some point. The next step would be to designate a day when they could find a solution to the matter.

“We are optimistic and hope we can do this quickly.”

The Saskatchewan government said the repeal of Section 24 “will level the playing field for all businesses while supporting Saskatchewan’s autonomy and consolidating its place as an equal partner in the Confederacy.”