The Ford government says it has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada to challenge the constitutionality of the federal carbon tax.
This comes after the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled in a split decision in June that the federal carbon tax is constitutional because it relates to a matter of “national concern.”
The Ford government, meanwhile, says the federal carbon pricing is a violation of the Constitution because it allows the federal government to intrude on provincial jurisdiction.
“In June, we were disappointed to learn that in a split decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal did not accept our position that the federal carbon tax is unconstitutional,” Environment Minister Jeff Yurek said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
“Despite this decision, we remain committed to using every tool at our disposal to fight against the job-killing carbon tax, which is making life more expensive for Ontario’s hardworking individuals, families and businesses.
“That is why we filed our appeal of the decision on the carbon tax to the Supreme Court of Canada today.”
This decision comes despite Premier Doug Ford saying last Friday that his government would wait until after the federal election to determine the fate of the court case.
“This carbon tax, it’s not going to be the courts that are going to decide. The people are going to decide when the election is held,” Ford said at the time.
“Once the people decide, I believe in democracy, I respect democracy, we move on.”
The Opposition responded to news of the Supreme Court appeal Wednesday with sharp criticism.
NDP critic for energy and climate change Peter Tabuns said the Ford government’s appeal is both a waste of money and is “dragging us backwards in the fight against the climate crisis.”
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“We should be leading the fight against the climate crisis, not fuelling the fire and burning public money,” Tabuns said.
The Trudeau government is currently imposing a federal carbon tax on provinces that don’t have their own system that meets federal standards.
Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta are all in the midst of legal challenges against the tax.
— With files from the Canadian Press
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