CALVERT AWAITS HARPER'S RESPONSE ON EQUALIZATION

Premier Lorne Calvert today expressed his opposition to the O'Brien Report developed by a panel commissioned to examine equalization issues across Canada and discussed today with Premiers in Edmonton.

"In Saskatchewan we will not compromise our call for fairness and a formula which is essential in the province's economic future," Calvert said. "I continue to call upon the Harper Conservative government to fulfil its commitment made during the recent federal election campaign."

The report varies from the Conservative commitment to equalization reform in three principal ways of importance to Saskatchewan:

• it makes no distinction between renewable and non-renewable resources;

• it falls short of full exclusion of non-renewables; and,

• it introduces a clawback that would deny Saskatchewan any meaningful benefit from its non-renewable resources.

"Under the Panel's recommendations, Saskatchewan would be extracting non-renewable resources for the benefit of other provinces and the federal government, receiving little or no benefit ourselves," Calvert said. "This is simply unfair as eventually these resources will be gone."

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For More Information, Contact:

Jay Branch Media Services Regina Phone: (306) 787-6349 Email: jbranch@ec.gov.sk.ca Cell: (306) 539-3994