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By CJME News

Saskatchewan loses carbon tax appeal in Supreme Court

Mar 25, 2021 | 8:31 AM

Saskatchewan has lost its carbon tax fight.

In a 6-3 decision released early Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled the federal government has the constitutional power to establish a price for greenhouse gas emissions.

That dashed the hopes of the governments of Saskatchewan, Ontario and Alberta, all of whom were seeking to axe the tax.

Last May, Premier Scott Moe’s government challenged the constitutionality of the carbon tax in the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal. The court dismissed the challenge in a 3-2 ruling.
The split decision prompted the government to take the case to the Supreme Court of Canada.

“The issue that we’re arguing is that it’s not really a tax, it’s a punitive treatment of some of the provinces,” then-Saskatchewan Justice Minister Don Morgan said in 2019. “We think it’s worthwhile to get some clarity as to their right to levy a disproportionate tax or a punitive tax.”

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The carbon tax, known legally as the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, was passed by the federal government in 2018. It sets a minimum price on carbon emissions and imposes a federal pricing system in provinces that don’t meet that price with a system of their own.

Ontario’s appeals court also upheld the law as a matter of national concern, but Alberta’s top court struck it down in 2020 for interfering with a province’s constitutional right to develop its natural resources.

Morgan previously had said Saskatchewan would risk taking a loss in the Supreme Court, because he – and the people of the province — wanted clarity on the issue.

In 2019, Morgan was asked if Saskatchewan would change its stance on the carbon tax if the province lost in the Supreme Court.

“We’ll certainly want to negotiate, work with (federal officials), consider other options and remedies but from a legal point of view, the Supreme Court is as far as you can go,” he replied.
The Supreme Court was to hear the case last March, but the hearing was postponed due to COVID-19. The court finally heard arguments in September, but reserved judgment.

More to come.

— With files from The Canadian Press