Ford government appeals federal carbon tax decision to Supreme Court of Canada
On Wednesday, the provincial government announced it filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada to challenge the constitutionality of the federal carbon tax.
This comes after the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled the federal government’s carbon tax was constitutional in a split decision this past June.
See also:
- Ontario’s top court rules federal government’s carbon-pricing law as constitutional
- Saskatchewan Court of Appeal rules carbon tax constitutional
- Doug Ford’s government launching constitutional challenge of federal carbon tax plan
However, the Ford government continues to say the federal carbon tax is job-killing and makes life more expensive for Ontario families.
“In June, we were disappointed to learn that in a split decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal did not accept our position that the federal carbon tax is unconstitutional,” said Jeff Yurek, Minister of the Environment, in a statement.
Yurek added that the Ontario government “remains committed to using every tool” at its disposal to fight the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, which was enacted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government in April.
“That is why we filed our appeal of the decision on the carbon tax to the Supreme Court of Canada today.”
In addition to Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, and New Brunswick—all led by Conservative governments—have pledged to fight the carbon tax.
This has prompted the federal government to impose its own tax in those provinces, which started April 1 at $20 per tonne and will rise to $50 per tonne by 2022.