Federal program paid advocates to support carbon tax in Supreme Court case

A federal program subsidized intervenors who supported the government’s position in a 2021 Supreme Court of Canada case challenging the carbon tax, according to newly disclosed records.

Blacklock's Reporter says the Court Challenges Program, which provided the funding, declined to comment on the payments made to advocacy groups.

“The existence of the Court Challenges Program and the significant contribution it makes in terms of promoting equitable access to the courts are important, especially in the context of unprecedented upheavals the world is currently experiencing,” program directors wrote in their Annual Report, which was tabled in Parliament.

The report, for the first time, included a list of cases that received taxpayer funding but did not disclose specific recipients in the carbon tax challenge.

The program, which has spent $24.9 million since its revival in 2017, is designed to support test cases of national significance on constitutional and quasi-constitutional rights.

“By providing financial support, the Court Challenges Program aims to help Canadians access the justice system in order to assert their constitutional rights,” the report stated.

Among the funded cases were a 2011 immigration appeal, a 2020 citizenship case involving surrogacy, and a 2015 airline discrimination case.

The report also noted funding for intervenors in the Supreme Court’s carbon tax case, where the governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario argued the tax was an unconstitutional overreach into provincial jurisdiction.

Forty groups filed briefs in the case, including Amnesty International, the David Suzuki Foundation, Friends of the Earth, and the National Farmers Union.

The Court Challenges Program did not name which of these groups received funding.

The Supreme Court ultimately upheld the carbon tax in a 6-3 decision.

“Climate change is real,” wrote Chief Justice Richard Wagner in the majority opinion. “It is caused by greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities, and it poses a grave threat to humanity’s future. The only way to address the threat of climate change is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

However, seven of 15 lower court judges had deemed the tax an unconstitutional federal intrusion.

Justice Malcolm Rowe of Newfoundland and Labrador wrote in dissent, “It is no simple matter to tinker with the Constitution.”