Sask. premier disputes role as voice of dissent on climate

Saskatchewan's premier says he does not feel like an outlier at the climate talks being held in Paris this week.

Brad Wall has been portrayed as a dissenting voice at the conference by raising issues about the economic implications of fightingclimate change.

• Brad Wall is dissenting voice in Canada's COP21 delegation

Today, in a conference call with provincial media, Wall told reporters he does not see it that way.

"No, not at all," Wall laughed. "And credit the prime minister, I've not felt like that."

"Saskatchewan people and our government can point to, by far and away, the largest per capita investment in actual technology to do something about climate change in a world where 1,000 coal plants are on the books," Wall said, referring to the carbon capture plant at Boundary Dam Unit 3.

Wall says there continues to be a lot of interest in that technology, despite revelations in recent months about its performance.

"I think there's an understanding in the rest of the world and I've seen it firsthand here that boy, this is leading technology and this is a very large-scale project that's going to have some challenges and frankly it's meeting those challenges," Wall said.

Wall says the president of SaskPower has a meeting later this week in Paris with officials from India who are interested in learning more about the carbon capture plant.

As for a missed photo opportunity with the rest of the Canadian delegation, Wall says he was busy with a media interview and arrived after it was taken.