In our article “Federal Carbon Tax Is Legal” published on June 30, 2019, we reported that the Ontario Court of Appeal had upheld the federal government of Canada’s constitutional right to impose a nationwide price on carbon emissions. As anticipated, Ontario’s provincial government, which brought the challenge, has now filed an appeal of that decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.

In a statement released today, Jeff Yurek, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, said:

“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. 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.”

Minister Yurek’s statement notes that Ontario is not alone in this challenge and continues to stand united with the coalition of provinces, including Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and New Brunswick, pledged to fight the federal government’s carbon tax.

Ontario has intervened in Saskatchewan’s appeal of its reference to the Supreme Court of Canada, as well as in Alberta’s reference to the Alberta Court of Appeal and Manitoba’s application for judicial review at the Federal Court.