Like I’m 5: Saskatchewan’s Potash Royalty Structure

Billions of lives depend on it in a world that's clearly becoming more stable and peaceful... so let's give it away, shall we? 😃

Saskatchewan potash.

Depending on who’s doing the talking, it’s the backbone of global agriculture.

The difference between full bellies and mass starvation.

Billions of lives depend on it.

Today you and I are standing on what’s arguably the world’s most critical resource.

The future of humanity rests with us.

Sooooo….. what are we doing about it?

Today, Saskatchewan should be the Saudi Arabia of potash.

In addition to the Saskatchewan Legislature, our many, many hospitals should also be marble palaces.

Instead, we’ve been letting pink gold slip through our fingers.

Corporate giants and foreign powers are hauling it out of Saskatchewan ground by the trainload, paying us peanuts for it, while corporate executives and shareholders rake in billions of dollars in profit on the other side.

Global demand for potash is skyrocketing, corporate vultures are circling, and hostile foreign entities are eyeing the biggest asset Saskatchewan (and Canadians) own, with undisguised, salivating lust - the ground under our feet.

If we don’t wake up and value and protect this incredible gift sitting in our imperfect, collective provincial hand right now, we will lose it.

Saskatchewan must impose smarter regulations, better revenue strategies, long-term thinking and show some goddamn courage in the face of the potash industry, or we’re handing over our future to the lowest bidder.

The first and most obvious question: if the world needs Saskatchewan potash, why aren’t they paying for it?

The Sask Party government unequivocally has the leverage to demand top dollar - to secure every ounce of potential wealth for Saskatchewan people.

Saskatchewan potash isn’t a charity.

You and I pay for the highways that mining companies rely on to transport their product, employees and equipment. We are responsible for maintaining the stable, civil operating environment these corporations couldn’t exist profitably without.

Saskatchewan possesses an estimated forty-five percent of the planet’s economically recoverable potash reserves, a mineral as vital to fertilizer production as tomato is to ketchup.

Saskatchewan is currently the only source of potash production in Canada.

Given the significance of potash to Saskatchewan's economy, understanding the royalty regime - the payment program - that monetizes its extraction seems pretty important.

It’s also confusing AF.

Probably deliberately.

The potash royalty regime is primarily governed by The Mineral Taxation Act, 1983, The Crown Minerals Act, The Potash Production Tax Regulations, and The Subsurface Mineral Royalty Regulations, 2017.

If you are interested in reading the much more detailed explainer provided by the Government of Saskatchewan, upon which this information is predominantly based, I encourage you to do so by clicking here.

Otherwise you’re welcome, because I broke my brain wading through it for all of us.

I’m going to do my best to explain like I would to a 5-year-old.

Well, maybe a teenager.

Point is I’ve tried to keep it relatively simple, even though it’s not, at all.

<Deep breath>: