Saskatchewan Government Unanimously Supports Constitutional Amendment Measure Amid $ 341 Million CP Lawsuit | The Canadian News

The Saskatchewan government’s offer to amend Canada’s Constitution received bipartisan support amid a lengthy legal battle with the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP).

CP and the Saskatchewan government have engaged in a 13-year legal saga, with the railroad seeking $ 341 million. Railroad attorneys contend that the company is exempt from various Saskatchewan provincial taxes as a result of a contract signed in 1880.

“In 1881, CP made significant capital investments to complete the coast-to-coast railroad connecting and unifying Canada,” company spokesman Patrick Waldron said in a statement.

As a result of “CP’s investments and commitment to build and operate this rail forever,” the Prairie provinces and the federal government agreed to tax breaks for work on the line, Waldron said.

However, the Saskatchewan government argues that the exemption ended in 1966 when the CP chairman rescinded the agreement in exchange for regulatory changes.

The matter is currently the subject of a civil trial in the Court of the Queen’s Court of Regina. The CP spokesperson and the government MLA declined to comment on the civil litigation.

On Monday, Saskatchewan Attorney General Gordon Wyant made a motion to repeal Section 24 of the Saskatchewan Act, which contains the exemption.

“Section 24 is a relic of an earlier time when Saskatchewan was not treated as an equal partner in the confederation,” Wyant said in the legislature.

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The minister said it would be unfair for the rail giant to receive a “substantial” tax break in Saskatchewan, while being required to pay taxes in other provinces.

If the exemption were to continue, the tax burden would unfairly fall on the backs of other corporations, small businesses and individual taxpayers, according to Wyant.

The motion received unanimous support from the legislature and went to the House of Commons for consideration.

Trent Wotherspoon, a finance critic for the NDP, said the effort represents “a story in the making” because if successful, it would be the first time that Saskatchewan Law and the Constitution had been amended with a motion that would begin in the provincial legislature.

“In terms of taxes, we believe that Saskatchewan should be treated the same as the original provinces established in 1867,” said Wotherspoon.

The CP spokesperson declined to comment on developments in the legislature, but said the company is still open to alternative solutions to the dispute, including tax credits and “investments that improve Canada’s infrastructure, create new jobs and improve commerce. “.

– with archives from The Canadian Press