BONNYVILLE – Local politicians are rejoicing following the Alberta Court of Appeal's decision a federal carbon tax is unconstitutional.
"I think it's a huge win for us as a province and for other provinces that are opposed to the federal imposition of a tax on hard-working Canadians just trying to heat their homes and businesses," Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul MLA David Hanson stated in an email to the Nouvelle.
Lakeland MP and Shadow Minister of Natural Resources Shannon Stubbs agreed, "I'm overjoyed to see that decision by the court. It makes the point what we Conservatives were warning about when the (federal) Liberals first brought the carbon tax in."
She continued, "The number one thing to me is this court ruling does affirm what we've been saying federally all along, which is the federal government is imposing its will on provinces and that's wrong in itself."
The 4-1 decision was announced on Feb. 24. The Alberta Court of Appeal is the first to rule against the levy, after provincial appeal courts in Saskatchewan and Ontario sided with the federal government last year.
In the decision written by three of the four majority justices, it states that the legislation surrounding the tax erodes provincial jurisdiction and is "irreconcilable with the provinces' proprietary powers as owners of their natural resources."
"However, simply because reducing GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions is a pressing international problem and one of concern to Canadians generally across this country does not justify abrogating the existing division of powers in Canada."
The federal price on carbon came into effect in Alberta on Jan. 1, 2020, after the United Conservative Party repealed the provincial carbon tax put in place by the former NDP government following the election.
While the appeal court's ruling won't have an immediate impact on the carbon tax, Hanson said it sends a message.
"I think it's time we had a decision on where the line is when it comes to provincial and federal jurisdiction on taxes."
Instead, Hanson would like to see the Liberals consider alternate measures to deal with emissions.
"Like the provincial carbon tax, it's all pain and no gain. We are hoping the federal government adopts our TIER (Technology, Innovation Emission Reduction) program that will effectively reduce emissions through innovation and advances in technology, not penalizing folks for living in a northern climate."
Regardless of what happens next, Stubbs expressed the ruling is "a small bit of light in what seems to be very dark days."
Really, the key take away is the Alberta government is fighting to protect Albertans against the Liberals adding this tax, which is just going to make everything more expenseive for everybody, and it's especially going to harm farmers, rural people, and people on fixed incomes. The court's (decision), the way I see it, basically affims exactly what we've been saying; that the Liberals did impose it and it's wrong."
Ultimately, the decision is now up to the Supreme Court, which will hear arguments for and against the carbon tax this month when Saskatchewan appeals the ruling from its court.
"It will be interesting to see in the coming days what does happen with the national debate around the carbon tax." said Stubbs. "Of course, the Liberals were standing up in the House of Commons (Wednesday) saying they're not blinking and they're just going to keep moving ahead. It will be interesting to see what the next steps are."
While uncertainty still remains on whether or not Albertans will continue to pay into the federal carbon tax, Premier Jason Kenney isn't backing down.
"We will not tolerate Ottawa determining the future of Alberta's economy. This consumer carbon tax is now illegal, therefore we expect the Government of Canada to comply with the order of the court today, remove the federal carbon tax on Albertans and immediately refund any and all tax collected to date," Kenney stated in a press release.
The Supreme Court of Canada has set March 24 and 25 for the hearings.
