Saskatchewan residents taking province to court to try to force climate action

Lynn Oliphant, 80, tries to reduce his ecological footprint as much as he can. He wants the Saskatchewan government to start doing the same.

Oliphant is one of seven Saskatchewan residents — aged 15 to 80 — working with Climate Justice Saskatoon to take the province to court over its role in climate change. 

The group filed an application to the Court of King's Bench on March 31 claiming that government action to expand gas-fired electricity generation violates Section 7 of the Charter and Rights and Freedoms which guarantees the right to life, liberty and security.

The applicants are asking the court to order the Crown corporation SaskPower to set a reasonable target to decarbonize and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2035.

Oliphant pointed at hundreds of 2021 heat-related deaths in British Columbia and the town of Lytton burning to the ground as examples of the need for quick climate action in Saskatchewan and across Canada.

"The only way to address this is by rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, so building a new gas-fired power plant like we are in Moose Jaw and possibly another in Lanigan is not the sustainable path," Oliphant said.

Oliphant and his wife live in an energy efficient home they built more than 25 years ago. They have a solar panel array and don't use natural gas or any fossil fuels, for heating or any other energy usage. He said the changes cut back their carbon footprint by 50 per cent.

"If you're living in a world where the government doesn't make it easy to do the right thing, then we don't progress very far," Oliphant said.

"I think the government has got to come to grips with the fact that climate change is real." 

SaskPower says it is currently aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030 and be net-zero by 2050.

The Government of Saskatchewan says it will be defending the province's decision to build natural gas-fired power plants, "as this is the most effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions without causing undue harm to our people and economy."

This is the first court claim like this against Saskatchewan's government, but not the first in Canada.

Martin Olszynski, an associate professor in the faculty of law at the University of Calgary, said there have been similar lawsuits, which tried to use the Charter and Rights and Freedoms as an argument for climate action, filed against the Ontario and federal governments.

"There is generally a push and effort around the world to try to use the courts, not instead of the public arena but in addition," Olszynski said.