On June 21, 2018, Parliament's Greenhouse Gas
Pollution Pricing Act (the Act) came into force. The
Act sought to mitigate climate change by applying minimum
national pricing standards for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to
listed provinces that had not adopted sufficiently stringent
pricing mechanisms.1 Part 1 imposed a fuel charge to 22
listed GHG-producing fuels. Part 2 established an output-based
pricing system (OBPS) for GHG emissions by large industrial
facilities. Facilities that exceeded applicable emissions limits
were required to pay the OBPS charge.
The provinces of Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Alberta brought the
question of the Act's constitutionality to the
respective provincial Courts of Appeal (the References), alleging
that Parliament had exceeded the scope of its authority in
legislating the Act. A majority of the Saskatchewan Court
of Appeal and Ontario Court of Appeal found the Act
constitutional under Parliament's power to make laws for the
peace,
