Saskatchewan Challenges Ottawa's Proposed Carbon Tax

On April 25, 2018, the Saskatchewan government announced that it has commenced a "reference case" to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, asking for a determination about whether the federal carbon levy will be "unconstitutional, in whole or in part." This is part of the effort of the Saskatchewan government to avoid implementing any carbon payment regime in the province. The Saskatchewan government asserts that its own climate change strategy, which does not involve a price on carbon, will be effective in reducing emissions in the province.

As we discussed in an earlier post, the federal government is moving forward with its plan to impose a national minimum carbon price on those provinces that fail to adopt their own pricing system either through cap and trade or carbon taxes. Jurisdictions that do not have a system in place that meets the federal benchmark will have to adopt the federal "backstop" system pursuant to the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (the Act).