OTTAWA (CU)_Canada’s top court ruled in favour of a central pillar of the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plan to fight climate change, the carbon pricing policy, which had been challenged by the provinces of Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Infuriating these provinces on Thursday (25 March), the Supreme Court upheld the legality of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, saying that climate change is “a threat of the highest order” to the whole of Canada, as well as the world.
“Parliament has jurisdiction to enact this law as a matter of national concern,” Chief Justice Richard Wagner wrote in the ruling. “All parties to this proceeding agree that climate change is an existential challenge. It is a threat of the highest order to the country, and indeed to the world.”
The North American nation is the fourth-largest oil producer and the fifth-largest greenhouse gas emitter on a per capita basis, in the world.
Carbon pricing is the backbone of the federal government’s plan to ultimately reach net-zero emissions by 2050, and therefore, Ottawa will steadily increase the price of carbon from the current rate of C$30 a ton to C$170 ($135.08) a ton by 2030.
Under the Act, the federal government can also impose a levy on provinces which do not have satisfactory carbon pricing systems of their own.
Although the provinces opposing to the piece of legislation have argued that the it would infringe on their jurisdiction, however, the Supreme Court held that the intervention was justified.
“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court of Canada does not change our core conviction that the federal carbon tax is bad environmental policy, bad economic policy, and simply wrong,” Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said.
He added that his province will unveil its own climate measures in order to avoid being subject to the “punitive and ineffective” federal tax.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney claimed that the “disappointing” verdict undermined provincial authority, while the province of Ontario released a statement outlining its own environment plan.
With a snap election expected sometime this year, the Supreme Court’s ruling is considered a boon for PM Trudeau, ahead of a possible vote.
Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said the decision was a win for the citizens of the country who believe Canada should build “a prosperous economy that fights climate change”.
