The province announced Monday that Premier Scott Moe and Environment Minister Dana Skoropad have engaged Cam Swan, a former deputy minister of environment, to review decisions by Tire Stewardship Saskatchewan (TSS) that have led to job losses and the closure of processing facilities at Shercom Industries in Saskatoon. The review will be complete at the end of August.

The Saskatoon Chamber wrote to Minister Skoropad on May 2 calling for the review and subsequently met with the Minister to discuss the main issues.

TSS recently awarded a contract to U.S.-based Crumb Rubber Manufacturers (CRM) for a tire processing facility to be set up in Moose Jaw. The move came with a guarantee that CRM would receive all used tires collected in the southern portion of the province, as opposed to the previous system, which allowed dealers to choose where used tires went.

The unwarranted regulation of a once “free market” that is now siphoning jobs and market opportunities away from Saskatoon, and reassigning them to business interests outside our city, is concerning. We thank the Premier and Minister for looking into this issue.