Supreme Court Rules Federal Carbon Pricing Is Constitutional
OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Thursday that the federal government’s carbon pricing law is constitutional. The Trudeau Liberals originally passed the carbon pricing law through parliament in 2018 and required all 10 provinces to implement their own pricing scheme or have one implemented by Ottawa.
Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Alberta went to court, arguing that this federal mandate violated the British North American Act of 1867, the constitutional doctrine that separates provincial and federal powers In Canada. The three provinces argued that natural resources are the jurisdiction of provinces under the constitution, while the federal government made the case that climate change is a national crisis that needs to address at the federal level.
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court sided with Ottawa, ruling that climate change doesn’t know any boundaries across Canada.
“They noted that global warming causes harm beyond provincial boundaries and that it is a matter of national concern under the ‘peace, order and good government’ clause of the Constitution,” states an SCC press release.
“The majority noted the Act would only apply where provincial or territorial pricing systems are not strict enough to reduce global warming.”
The Supreme Court also pushed back at the common notion that the law is a “carbon tax.” The majority of the judges claim the law does meet the definition of taxation.
“The majority noted that the term ‘carbon tax’ is often used to describe the pricing of carbon emissions. However, they said this has nothing to do with the concept of taxation, as understood in the constitutional context,” states the press release. “As such, they also concluded that the fuel and excess emission charges imposed by the Act were constitutionally valid regulatory charges and not taxes.”
Wayne Long, the Liberal MP for Saint John-Rothesay, said the decision is a big win for Canada.
“It’s a win for us, it’s certainly a win for Canadians, and it’s a recognition that a reduction in carbon is in the national interest,” said Long.
The Liberal MP believes it’s critically important the Canadian government and their provincial counterparts continue to find ways to reduce their individual climate impact.
“Climate change is real, it poses the greatest threat on humanity certainly that we’ve ever faced,” Long said. “We need to act aggressively, our government has set out a target of net-zero carbon emission by 2050 and we aim to meet it.”
Conservative provincial governments in Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan led the charge against the federal carbon tax.
Premier Blaine Higgs, whose Progressive Conservative party earned a majority in last fall’s election, was not part of the push against the federal Liberal’s carbon pricing structure after the province announced it would determine its own carbon pricing.
Long says the PCs are working with the federal government to find “made in New Brunswick solutions” to climate change concerns.
“I think they’re working with us hand-in-hand to make sure we come up with the proper pricing in New Brunswick… that puts a price on pollution but also obviously fits what’s needed in New Brunswick,” he said.
With files from Ben Burnett, a reporter with Country 94/97.3 The Wave, Huddle content partners.