While the headlines are often focused on the financial impacts of the Province’s move to extend the use of coal-fired power plants, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, or CAPE, is drawing attention to the health impacts of the decision.
In 2025, the Province decided to extend the use of coal fired power plants until 2050. The endeavor goes against the federal government’s set deadline to phase out coal by 2030 in an effort to transition to cleaner energy production methods. This isolated thinking has set Saskatchewan apart from all other provinces, making it the main focal point for the coal debate across all of Canada.
On National Clean Air Day, CAPE gathered in Saskatoon’s Kinsmen Park to share recent data from the Pembina Institute which suggests that the government’s decision is likely to cost the Saskatchewan health care system an extra $160 million, mainly driven by pulmonary and respiratory ailments.
Local anesthesiologist Rob Weiler explains that both mining and burning coal have widespread impacts on the health of the planet and the human body- effects which are not confined to Saskatchewan.
“When a powerplant burns, there’s smoke that’s being emitted, and we share that. It blows into the neighbourhoods. It blows to other provinces. It blows to another country. We are not just making a decision for ourselves.”
Some of the outputs from mining and burning coal include sulfuric acid, fine particulate matter that is small enough to enter the blood stream, and toxic elements like selenium and mercury.
“Mercury that’s found in our fish, in our rivers, and our lakes- 75 per cent of that in Saskatchewan comes from burning coal,” Weiler adds.
Glenn Wright, a Saskatchewan lawyer leading a court challenge against the Province’s decision, says it doesn’t make sense to burn something so impactful when there are far better options available to Saskatchewan, like solar and hydro.
“I think this is likely to be the most important energy decision being made in more than a generation,” he admits.
CAPE encourages the public to visit Cape.ca to access its ‘letter writing action page’. Those who wish to join in the action are asked to contact their MLAs in an effort to reverse the decision.
