OTTAWA — Following his decisive election win in Alberta Tuesday, premier-designate Jason Kenney will now begin a long legal fight over the constitutional precedent of Ottawa’s carbon tax, one that’s expected to reach the highest court in Canada.
That would cause the NDP measure to be replaced by a federal carbon tax introduced by the Trudeau Liberals, which essentially acts a backstop to any provinces that don’t currently have a carbon tax in place — currently Saskatchewan, Ontario, Manitoba, New Brunswick, and likely soon Alberta. The federal backstop is currently set at $20 per tonne, which translates into roughly an extra 4.4 cents per litre at the pumps in Ontario.
The arguments mirrored those made in an earlier court challenge by Saskatchewan, in which provincial lawyers argued that the federal plan unduly enforces carbon taxes as the only mechanism to fight climate change, rather than allowing provinces to pursue other avenues. Hunter argued on Monday that because of the absence of clear lines defining which emissions are provincial and which are federal, Ottawa’s backstop effectively opens the door for future constitutional overreach — allowing the feds to enforce hard limits on the amount of fossil fuels used to heat homes, for example.
Despite Canada’s efforts to introduce tighter environment policies, the country is still set to fall short of its Paris Agreement targets set in 2016. Canada aims to cut emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY!
Unsurprisingly he faces no court battle over his plan to transform the ethnic demographics of rural Alberta.
Any judge will see carbon tax is extortion
He's going to enjoy every minute of the long battle
Just bring it. Albertans are ready to fight to the death.
And loooooots of our tax dollars. Who needs teachers anyways? 🤷🏽♀️
Give him time. And wait till October. Just don't listen to pollsters like Nanos, Graves, Grenier. A chimp with dart board more accurate. (and truthful)
Guessing in about 6 months, it’ll be a non-issue