Sustainable Saskatchewan $1.1M ad campaign: Selling the province or 'greenwashing' the problem

If you have been in an airport in Canada recently you might have noticed an advertising campaign promoting a "Sustainable Saskatchewan."

The Sustainable Saskatchewan website and digital media campaign, launched late last year, has brought the message to 10 Canadian airports with digital ads that read: "If you're looking for opportunities to partner, innovate and sustainably develop natural resources, Saskatchewan is the best place in the world to do it."

However, critics say the government's campaign is disingenuous, focusing on emission reductions made in the agricultural sector, but failing to define what "sustainability" really means for the province in the long term.

"I would say this is more of an investment in awareness to our fellow Canadians of what we're doing here and how we're doing it," Premier Scott Moe said of the $1.1-million campaign. 

Moe calls it is an invitation for Canadians to be proud of the products and materials that come from Saskatchewan and how they are made: "That is the outreach program that we are doing. You'll see it in virtually every major airport across Canada."

Moe says the first wave of the ad campaign focuses on agriculture, but it will also include other industries, such as mining, potash, and oil and gas. It will run in airports until the end of March.

"I can tell you that our customers that are buying our canola and canola oil, they're asking you how is this product being produced. The folks that are purchasing our oil are asking about methane emissions in the province and we tell them, well they're down 60 per cent relative to the year 2015.

"A great metric, one that we need to tell our customers and I would put forward that one. We need to ensure that other Canadians are aware of [it] as well."

He said the idea is to sell how Saskatchewan compares with other jurisdictions that have similar industries.

"[We're] producing potash with half the carbon content of our competitors in other parts of the world. These are strong numbers I think we as Saskatchewan residents can be so proud of."

Grant Wilson, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Regina, says the province is hitting on an issue of growing importance.

"It's certainly a requirement in this business climate to be committed to sustainability and to have commitments and efforts toward that, and I think it is something that if it doesn't generate new business it will certainly keep existing business."

In a letter to CBC, Saskatchewan Environmental Society (SES) board member Glenn Wright criticized the government's approach.

Wright said the ad campaign focuses on emissions reductions already achieved in agriculture, but not what still needs to be done.