OTTAWA—The law that enforces a minimum price on carbon emissions across Canada is a “massive expansion” of federal power over virtually “all human activities” and should be struck down, a top lawyer for the Ontario government argued on the opening day of a constitutional court challenge. Outlining the province’s case against the federal Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act on Monday, Josh Hunter said the new law disrupts the balance of powers in Canada’s constitution, because it gives Ottawa authority over anything that produces emissions that cause climate change — including in areas of provincial jurisdiction like local industry and land-use planning. Short of an emergency declaration to give Ottawa temporary authority, the law should not be allowed to stand without a constitutional amendment, he said. “Our key point is that the power claimed is just too broad,” said Hunter, deputy director of the Ontario government’s constitutional law branch. “It would unbalance the federation.” Enacted last year, the pollution pricing act says all provinces and territories need their own carbon price — through an emissions tax or cap-and-trade system — that meets the federal minimum of $20 per tonne of emissions in 2019, increasing to $50 per tonne in 2022. The law outlines a federal “backstop” carbon price that has been imposed in provinces that refused to meet Ottawa’s minimum standard, including Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick.The Progressive Conservative government at Queen’s Park has railed against the federal standards, with Premier Doug Ford arguing that he can reduce emissions without a “job-killing carbon tax.” Other provinces are pursuing their own court challenges of the law, and Saskatchewan’s top court heard arguments in its own case earlier this year. On Monday, Hunter addressed the five justices of the Ontario C ...
|
