Kenney “obviously disappointed” in Supreme Court’s carbon tax decision

When the United Conservatives were first sworn into power in spring 2019, their first order of business was to repeal Alberta’s provincial carbon tax. The federal government then stepped in and imposed the national levy at the beginning of 2020.

Last year, the provincial appeal court ruled that the federal tax was unconstitutional, saying it is a “constitutional trojan horse” that would give Ottawa “potentially unlimited power over provincial regulations.”

An appeal of that decision was then launched by the Supreme Court of Canada, which has now issued its verdict.

Kenney referenced the Peace Order and Good Government Clause, which the federal government used to anchor the carbon tax.

Alberta’s courts had explained, “What is authorized under the federal carbon tax act, indefinitely and into the future, and in the sole unfettered discretion of the executive, is endlessly expansive. The executive’s authority is also open-ended and largely subjective.”

“We are obviously disappointed with that decision,” says Kenney. “The Supreme Court ignored the Alberta Court of Appeal’s warning and discovered a new federal power that erodes provincial jurisdiction and undermines our constitutional federal system.”

Kenney adds that the best-case scenario here is that the federal government has invented a one-time-only carbon pricing exception to the constitutional order.

“We’ll continue to fight to defend our exclusive provincial power to regulate our resource industries that is guaranteed in 92A (1) of the constitution, which was a condition of Alberta signing on to the patriation of the constitution back in 1982.”

That section of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms reads as follows:

“In each province, the legislature may exclusively make laws in relation to (a) exploration for non-renewable natural resources in the province; (b) development, conservation and management of non-renewable natural resources and forestry resources in the province, including laws in relation to the rate of primary production therefrom; and (c) development, conservation and management of sites and facilities in the province for the generation and production of electrical energy.”

The Government of Alberta will take its time to review the Supreme Court’s decision and determine what courses of action can be taken.

In the meantime, the premier believes there are better ways of reducing emissions and that doing so is essential.

“We’ve demonstrated a real willingness to work with the national government where we can find common ground to address the challenge of climate change through practical steps to reduce emissions.”

“We are now in advance discussions with the Government of Canada and the energy industry over a potential massive expansion of carbon capture utilization and storage, which could be a real game-changer, as well as pursuing potential small-scale nuclear reactors and other game-changing technologies substantially to cut emissions without making Canada’s largest industry, our energy sector, uncompetitive.”

The province currently has a goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Kenney says this will be accomplished, in part, with help from the Technology, Innovation, and Emissions Reduction (TIER) program, which gives funding to clean energy projects.

He also touted equivalency agreements and methane emissions in Alberta.

The full remarks from Kenney can be viewed in the video below:

by David Opinko

Kenney “obviously disappointed” in Supreme Court’s carbon tax decision

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