SaskatchewanA Saskatoon judge is deciding whether a legal challenge to Saskatchewan’s plan to keep burning coal until 2050 can move forward. Advocates are asking judge to allow challenge of province’s plan to keep burning coal until 2050 to proceedJeffery Tram · CBC News · Posted: Nov 12, 2025 11:49 AM EST | Last Updated: 7 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.The Boundary Dam Power Station near Estevan, Sask., is shown partially covered in water vapour on Dec. 23, 2024. (Alexander Quon/CBC)A Saskatoon judge is deciding whether a legal challenge to Saskatchewan’s plan to keep burning coal until 2050 can move forward. At a hearing on Monday, the Saskatchewan Environmental Society, Citizens for Public Justice and three residents from Saskatchewan and Manitoba requested a judicial review of the provincial government’s directive that allows SaskPower to refurbish and operate coal-fired power plants past the federal phase-out deadline of 2029.They also want the court to grant an interim stay, which would pause the government’s decision to extend coal operations until the court can rule on whether that decision was lawful. The province, represented by government lawyer Elaine Thomson, argued in court Monday that the case should be struck before it’s heard, saying it’s not the court’s role to intervene in a long-term policy decision made by an elected government. The judge has reserved their decision on whether the case will move forward.Lawyer Glenn Wright, representing the applicants, said the government’s directive marks a sudden reversal of 15 years of planning and coordination to phase out coal power. He said the only public explanation for that shift is a three-page letter sent to SaskPower employees in June, outlining Premier Scott Moe’s plan to keep three coal units running until 2050 — two decades past the federal phase-out deadline.“We need to know more about their reasons because the reasons we have in this three-page letter are just insufficient,” Wright said in an interview with CBC’s The 306. “They don’t do enough to justify such a radical change.”LISTEN | Sask. court hears case on province’s decision to extend coal power to 2050:The 3067:35Sask. court hears case on province’s decision to extend coal power to 2050Glenn Wright, lawyer with Saskatoon’s Procido LLP, joins The 306 to talk about their court challenge against Saskatchewan’s government decision to extend coal-fired plantsWright said his clients believe the government’s directive must have a legal foundation and be subject to oversight.“No one is above the law,” he said. “What we’re asking the courts to do is to look at this decision and determine whether or not this decision was made fairly, whether it’s reasonable, and whether it’s legal.”The judge’s ruling, Wright said, will determine whether the judicial review and a request for an interim stay can proceed.If the application to strike is denied, the case would move to a full hearing on whether the province’s directive to SaskPower was made lawfully.If the court agrees with the province, Wright says the applicants could appeal to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.“It’s unfortunate our clients are prejudiced here,” Wright said. “Justice delayed is justice denied. At the same time, the government gets to keep moving ahead with impunity to just keep spending our money on coal.”Youth among those calling for climate accountabilityAmong the individual applicants is 12-year-old Kiké Dueck from Regina, who said Saskatchewan’s coal plan sets the wrong example for future generations.“It will impact me because I know that this pollution will cause climate change,” Dueck said. “That will make it harder for me and all the other youth and everyone in the future.”Dueck said they joined the case because they believe Saskatchewan should be investing in renewable energy instead of refurbishing aging coal infrastructure.“I feel like my future is kind of bleak if we don’t take action,” Deuk said.In a statement, one of the other individual applicants, Sherry Olson of Saskatoon, said the province’s decision “represents a clear failure to uphold legal climate commitments” and risks locking in decades of pollution.The vice president of the Saskatchewan Environmental Society, Bob Halliday, said refurbishing old coal plants could cost taxpayers close to a billion dollars.“Investing in outdated, high-emissions technology diverts public funds from affordable, renewable power for Saskatchewan’s future,” Halliday said in a release.ABOUT THE AUTHORJeffery is a reporter with CBC Saskatchewan in Regina. He previously worked at CBC Toronto as an associate producer. You can reach him at jeffery.tram@cbc.ca.With files from Aishwarya Dudha
Saskatchewan plans to extend coal power to 2050. Now a judge will decide whether it ends up in court
