Federal Carbon Tax Is Constitutional, Saskatchewan’s Top Court Rules
REGINA — Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal has ruled in a split decision that a federally imposed carbon tax is constitutional.
The
Saskatchewan Party government had asked the court for its opinion on
the levy that came into effect April 1 in provinces without a carbon
price of their own.
In a 155-page decision on the reference case,
Chief Justice Robert Richards writes that establishing minimum national
standards for a price on greenhouse gas emissions falls under federal
jurisdiction.
He writes Ottawa has the power to impose its carbon
tax under a section of the Constitution that states Parliament can pass
laws in the name of peace, order and good government.