Sask. legislature passes motion condemning Russian invasion in Ukraine

The Saskatchewan legislative spring sitting began with a message of solidarity for the people of Ukraine and a motion condemning the Russian invasion.

The government held an emergency debate following question period on Monday. MLAs passed a motion to support Ukraine and send a letter to the Ukrainian and Russian ambassadors to Canada.

Premier Scott Moe read the motionwhile the assembly sat with Ukrainian flags on their desks.

"Saskatchewan stands united with the people of Ukraine. Your courage and determination are an inspiration to us all," Moe said.

"We unequivocally condemn this unprovoked and illegal invasion. Democracy and freedom are under attack and it is our hope that the whole world will stand up to Russia and say no."

The motion calls for Russia to cease operations and withdraw its military from the country.

Saskatchewan has pledged $100,000 toward humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

Opposition proposes gas price relief

The conflict in Ukraine has coincided with higher oil prices and higher prices at the gas pumps.

On Monday, the opposition asked the government to help consumerswith a provincial gas relief program.

"Temporary measures like these will offer families some relief as we anticipate gas prices to continue to increase as the economic sanctions against Russia take effect," Opposition finance critic Trent Wotherspoon said.

Wotherspoon said higher oil prices will result in higher revenues for Saskatchewan and that those should be passed on to consumers.

"$1.60 a litre at the pumps today and families struggling with significant cost of living increases. We feel the provincial government needs to provide some relief on fuel costs for Saskatchewan people," he said.

On Monday, the Alberta government announced it would pausethe collection of its13-cent per litre provincial fuel tax on April 1. The policy will remain in place as long asWest Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil remains above $90 US per barrel.

Moe said given oil revenue is the "people of Saskatchewan's resource," the government is in the "early stages" of looking at how it can return some relief to consumers. He said it would be "at a different level than Alberta" because Saskatchewan's economy is less reliant on oil and gas revenues.

Moe said the conflict in Ukraine is less than two weeks old and the long-term effects on commodity prices are not known.

He said the results of higher prices are evidence that Canada needs to become more self-reliant on oil.

"We need to take care of ourselves. We still import oil from other areas of the world, including Russia, into Canada and that needs to stop."

Saskatchewan prepared to welcome 'thousands' of refugees

Saskatchewan's Immigration Minister Jeremy Harrison said the province is working to take potentially "thousands" of Ukrainian refugees.

"Our door is open,"Harrison said.

Refugee settlement is handled by the federal government, but Harrison said discussions with federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser have been positive.

Harrison said the province could take a disproportionate number of refugeesthan the population of the province would warrant, and is willing to take as many as the federal government wants to resettle.

Harrison said the government is not asking for specific numbers or skill sets, and referencedSaskatchewan's history ofUkrainian immigration.

He said the provincial government has expedited the process of approving applications to the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP), which amounts to under 100 people from Ukraine.

Harrison said the government is allocated 6,000 people per year through SINP and has seen a lower number apply in the last two yearsdue to the pandemic.

"With COVID the amount of applications and re-locationsfrom international in-migration was less than we've traditionally seen."

Harrison said "prioritizing" applicants in the queue from Ukraine would have a minimal impact.