BIO-PRODUCTS INDUSTRY PROGRESSING
DESPITE PROVINCIAL NDP INACTION
By Garry Breitkreuz, M.P.
Yorkton-Melville
March 9, 2007

On October 12th, 2006, four hundred people from across the province gathered in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan, for an ethanol symposium. At that meeting, the Hon. Clay Serby, Saskatchewan’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Regional Economic and Co-operative Development, was given an opportunity to lay out the Saskatchewan government’s position on the developing bio-fuels’ industry. The local committee in Shaunavon gave him a half-hour slot and expected a new vision for agriculture and for bio-fuels for the province. Many were disappointed when Mr. Serby offered absolutely nothing new for either industry. He offered only the same lines he has used for many months. He continues to use them today.

Mr. Serby’s defense for his inaction is that he says the province is waiting on the federal government before moving forward with any plan of its own. The Conservative government has been working hard in this file. When we took office just over a year ago, there was virtually nothing in place – no national standards, no national regulatory structure, no new initiatives and little discussion was taking place. We had to start from square one, trying to create an atmosphere that will allow for the development of a Canadian ethanol industry. At the same time, we must ensure that we avoid the mistakes that have plagued the industry in other countries that are now years ahead of us.

The federal government is developing a national program, with an emphasis on the word ‘national’. Our programs are obviously federal and not specifically aimed at any one province, and some provinces are already proceeding with their own initiatives. Quebec has moved ahead on bio-diesel, Ontario continues to support the development of new ethanol projects and Alberta has committed over $200 million to its ethanol industry. Meanwhile, Saskatchewan’s NDP government sits on a billion-dollar surplus, saving it for an election campaign expected later this year.

Despite inaction by the provincial government, several entrepreneurs are putting Saskatchewan on the bio-products map. Milligan Bio-Tech of Foam Lake has been among the leaders of the bio-diesel industry for nearly ten years. Through its own research and development initiatives, Milligan Bio-Tech has developed a reliable, environmentally-friendly diesel made of 100 per cent canola oil. In 2006, the company constructed a canola-crushing plant to produce the oil that is used for producing bio-diesel and the co-products of Milligan Bio-Tech.

From our federal Conservative government, we have seen the introduction and now the addition of $10 million for the Bio-fuels Opportunities for Producers Initiative (BOPI). BOPI helps agricultural producers develop sound business proposals, as well as undertake feasibility or other studies to support the creation and expansion of the bio-fuel production capacity.

In addition to the BOPI initiative, in December 2006, the Conservative government announced it would regulate the use of renewable fuels in Canada and has put in place $500 million in programs to assist farmers and rural communities to seize new market opportunities in the agricultural bio-products sector.

Mr. Serby said that while we wait, there are those who are building our industry out from under us. There is a solution: His NDP government can take a progressive approach like Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, and begin to move the industry ahead in our province today.

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