TORONTO – The Ontario government says it will carry on with its legal challenge of the federal carbon tax despite the results of Monday’s federal election.
Premier Doug Ford had previously said the outcome of the vote would determine whether he persisted in his plan to fight the tax, and his office said earlier this week it would evaluate the results of the election that saw the Liberals return to form a minority government.
But Environment Minister Jeff Yurek now says the province will see its roughly $30-million court battle “through to its end.”
The carbon tax was imposed in Ontario after Ford’s Progressive Conservative government scrapped the cap-and-trade system, fulfilling one of his key campaign promises.
The premier banded with several other provinces, including Saskatchewan and Alberta, in opposing the federal program.
But at least one of the provincial leaders involved in the so-called “resistance” appeared to back down after Monday’s vote, saying voters seemed to support the carbon tax.
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said the province would “find a way to make it work,” paving the way for it to come up with its own scheme to reduce carbon emissions.
Yurek, meanwhile, said each province must choose its own path.
“I respect other provinces to make the decisions that are best for them,” he said Thursday. “New Brunswick has made their decision. Saskatchewan and Alberta have made their decisions. We’ve decided we’re going to continue to work with the federal government on fixing and ensuring we make our targets with the environment.”
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