Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is scheduled to speak Thursday morning in response to the Supreme Court of Canada ruling the federal carbon price is entirely constitutional.
Kenney is set to hold a media availability at 10:30 a.m. His announcement will be streamed live in this story post.
Earlier Thursday morning, the Supreme Court of Canada gave the federal government the constitutional green light to impose a carbon tax on the provinces.
The split decision upholds a pivotal part of the Liberal climate-change plan that accounts for at least one-third of the emissions Canada aims to cut over the next decade.
Chief Justice Richard Wagner said in the written ruling that climate change is a real and existential threat to Canada and the entire world, and evidence shows a price on pollution is a critical element to addressing it.
Wagner also said provinces can’t set minimum national prices on their own and if even one province fails to reduce their emissions it could have an inordinate impact on the rest of the country.
It is a split decision with six judges entirely in favour, one partial dissent and two entirely in disagreement with the majority.
Since he entered provincial politics, Kenney has pledged to kill the consumer carbon tax. Bill 1 of the UCP government was the Carbon Tax Repeal Act.
The province won its challenge in the Alberta Court of Appeal. Ottawa won cases in Ontario and Saskatchewan, but this was always going to be decided in the Supreme Court. Arguments were heard in September.
University of Calgary law professor Sharon Mascher called the Supreme Court ruling “a very, very significant decision.”
“I think it was widely anticipated that at least the majority of the Supreme Court of Canada would uphold this legislation and they did so on the basis that there is this carbon pricing is a single and indivisible matter and that really there is a provincial inability to alone address this issue,” Mascher said.
“It’s a really, really obviously significant finding for how Canada moves forward with its carbon plan, with carbon pricing a big part of that.”
Mascher said the provinces don’t have a lot of recourse from here, but said “it does still leave the provinces with the ability to regulate and legislate in relation to the provincial aspects of greenhouse gases.
“So there is still room for the provincial governments to operate provided they meet these minimum benchmark requirements at the federal level in relation to carbon pricing.”
The Alberta Party issued a statement following the ruling Thursday.
“Once again, Jason Kenney has fought and lost a political battle which accomplished nothing besides wasting time and taxpayer money,” acting leader Jacquie Fenske said. “Whether it is Bigfoot or the prime minister, the UCP is more focused on theatrical opposition than on improving the lives of Albertans, caring for our environment, and improving the lives of Albertans.”
Canada implemented the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act in 2019 setting a minimum price on carbon emissions in provinces which don’t have an equivalent provincial price, a law that was challenged by Saskatchewan, Ontario and Alberta.
With files from Tom Vernon, Global News and The Canadian Press.
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