In a 6 - 3 decision, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCOC) has ruled the federal government's carbon tax to be constitutional. 

Canada's top court released the decision earlier today (March 25) which allows Ottawa to push forward on its plan to make sure that every province and territory has a price on carbon in order to curb emissions of greenhouse gas.  

The decision is a major blow to provinces like Alberta who, along with Saskatchewan and Ontario, have vehemently opposed the tax and argued that natural resources fall under provincial jurisdiction under the Canadian Constitution. 

The decision says the federal government is free to impose minimum pricing standards because the threat of climate change is so great that it demands a co-ordinated national approach. 

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney released the following statement after the SCOC made today's ruling:

“A strong majority of Albertans elected this government because of our commitment to repeal the previous government’s carbon tax.

“We kept that commitment with our first law, Bill 1, the Carbon Tax Repeal Act, which we passed in May of 2019. The federal government then stepped in and imposed their carbon tax on Albertans on Jan. 1st, 2020.

“We committed to building a coalition of provinces opposed to this federal carbon tax, and to challenge its constitutionality in court.

“We kept that commitment too. We had a coalition of Canadian provinces, representing 80 percent of the Canadian population, who joined us in defending our taxpayers, and our province’s constitutional jurisdiction.

“Just over a year ago, Alberta’s Court of Appeal rendered its 4-1 decision on our judicial reference, deciding clearly that the federal carbon tax is unconstitutional.

“The federal government appealed that decision to the Supreme Court of Canada, which released its judgment today.

“We are obviously disappointed with that decision. The Supreme Court ignored the Alberta Court of Appeal’s warning and discovered a new federal power that erodes provincial jurisdiction and undermines our constitutional system.

“Albertans will continue to defend jobs, our economy, and our constitutional authority. We will continue to press our case challenging Bill C-69, the federal ‘No More Pipelines Law,’ which is currently before the Alberta Court of Appeal.

“We will do everything in our power to minimize costs on Albertans, and on our trade-exposed industries that must compete globally, while ensuring that we continue to responsibly reduce emissions in our province.

“Alberta’s government has supported the development of world-class technology that has helped the Canadian oilsands to reduce the carbon footprint of a barrel of bitumen by 30 percent over the past two decades.

“We will continue to do our part to secure a strong future for our energy industry while supporting that industry in reducing emissions.

“Finally, I would like to thank our allied provinces – Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick – who stood with Alberta in defending our economies and the place of strong provinces in the Canadian federation.

“A strong Canada needs strong provinces standing up for each other and for the Constitution, and we will continue to do so proudly on behalf of all Albertans.”

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