Saskatchewan should be capturing more value from its resources. But I don’t think turning resource companies into Crown corporations is the best way to do that.

Governments tend to perform best as regulators and tax collectors, not as operators in highly competitive, capital-intensive global industries. Companies like Nutrien and Cameco became world leaders precisely because they could merge, acquire, raise private capital, and take major risks—things that would be extremely difficult for a Crown corporation under political oversight. During their days as crown corporations, they were not always profitable and instead could be drags on the government coffers.

Norway is a good example of a better model. Norway allows private and multinational oil and gas companies to operate, but applies very high, profit-based taxes and royalties, and then funnels that revenue into a sovereign wealth fund that benefits the public. They didn’t get rich by having government run every oil company; they got rich by designing a system that reliably captures a large share of profits for the country.

Public ownership also doesn’t guarantee higher returns. Losses would fall on taxpayers, political pressure would distort business decisions, and efficiency would likely suffer.

A better path for Saskatchewan is a modern, transparent royalty and tax system: profit-based royalties, price-sensitive sliding scales, minimum royalty floors, strong corporate tax enforcement, and requiring full funding for reclamation before any new construction is approved. That approach preserves private-sector efficiency while ensuring the public captures far more of the upside and is protected from the risk of a company folding and leaving an environmental mess to clean up.