It’s summer, temperatures are rising across the country, and thanks to Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, the carbon tax fight is back on.

Could a constitutional challenge mark the end of Justin Trudeau’s radical green agenda?

Moe wants to make it so.

The Saskatchewan government is now at the forefront of a jurisdictional battle over a policy that is at the heart of the federal Liberal-NDP government’s climate plan.

To the climate fanatics in charge of the federal government, the carbon tax is a step toward a green, socialist utopia.

For the rest of the country, however, it has become a symbol of the federal government’s unpopularity, a poorly planned idea that is driving up costs and slowing economic growth.

Many Canadians are frustrated.

Still, the Prime Minister can’t seem to figure out why people don’t like him.

His government’s positioning on the carbon tax is a prime example of why his popularity is in the gutter.

The carbon tax is a tax on everything.

It drives costs up throughout the production process in virtually every industry.

When it was introduced, it faced immediate legal challenges from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario.

The argument boiled down to jurisdiction — the provinces argued that natural resources were provincial jurisdiction and the carbon tax was a tax on natural resource development.

Ottawa argued that climate change was a national crisis and therefore a national responsibility.

In late 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada sided with Trudeau — on the premise that as it applied to a national crisis the carbon tax could be applied as a minimum national standard.

This ruling came in spite of the fact that the Canadian constitution makes clear that the provinces and the federal government are intended to be equals who each have jurisdiction over different issues.

We wrote at the time that the court's decision undermined this balance of power and infringed on provincial sovereignty — particularly over the development of natural resources.

Provincial ownership and control of natural resources, not federal, were solidified in Canada's constitution following intense negotiations led by then Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed.

Former Supreme Court Justice Russell Brown, one of the dissenting opinions, discussing the implications of the ruling, said: “[The implications] go far beyond the Act , opening the door to federal intrusion - by way of the imposition of national standards — into all areas of provincial jurisdiction, including intra-provincial trade and commerce, health, and the management of natural resources.”

He predicted that the ruling would lead to serious tensions in the federation.

And it didn’t take long for those fractures to grow.

Just two years after the Supreme Court ruling, the Liberal-NDP alliance decided to completely abandon the minimum national standard approach by granting a carbon tax carve-out to home heating oils predominantly used in Atlantic Canada.

You see, the carbon tax was so unpopular in those provinces that the Liberals decided to give the folks out there a break.

Unfortunately, the announcement — and subsequent fallout — was a death blow to the political viability of the carbon tax.

Normally, the government would deny any political motives, but this time they admitted it.

Rural Economic Development Minister Gudie Hutchings, on CTV’s Question Period, said:

“I can tell you, the (Liberal) Atlantic caucus was vocal with what they’ve heard from their constituents, and perhaps they need to elect more Liberals in the Prairies so that we can have that conversation, as well.”

That did not go over well.

The resulting backlash was immediate and immense.

Moe announced that SaskEnergy — the Crown corporation that supplies natural gas in the province — would no longer be collecting the carbon tax on home heating bills, nor remitting the carbon tax to the federal government.

“This is the most divisive federal government Canada has ever had. It’s not about climate change, not about fairness or about families, it’s only about votes," said Moe.

Given Hutchings' remarks, it’s hard to see otherwise.

In order to enforce the carbon tax, Trudeau has responded to Moe’s defiance by sending the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) after Saskatchewan.

Trudeau says the CRA is “very, very good” at expropriating funds owed and, with some condescension, wished Moe “good luck” in his dealings with the federal agency.

Unfortunately for the CRA — no luck so far.

They attempted to claim $28 million from Saskatchewan in June, and again in July.

They now claim that Saskatchewan owes $42 million in unpaid carbon tax levies.

The Saskatchewan government says Ottawa has not expropriated any funds — yet.

In fact, Saskatchewan has even received a court injunction to stop the CRA from taking any money, as announced by Saskatchewan Minister of Justice and Attorney General Bronwyn Eyre.

“The court ruled in our favour, blocking the federal government from unconstitutionally garnishing money, pending the full hearing and determination of the continuation of the injunction by the Federal Court," Eyre said.

Settle in, this is going to take a while.

This is a complex legal situation that will likely be tied up in the courts until long after the voters decide it’s time to change governments.

The situation underscores the ridiculousness of the entire carbon tax scheme.

Think about it.

By granting the exemption in a clumsy attempt to gain political favour in the Atlantic provinces, the Liberals completely undermined the legal status of their signature policy.

By undermining the Supreme Court’s ruling on the carbon tax, Trudeau gave the provinces a (potential) legal avenue to openly ignore collection of certain federal taxes if the constitutionality of the tax is in question.

By refusing to repeal the carbon tax, and digging in on his radical green dream, Justin Trudeau could be on the verge of leading the Liberals into their biggest electoral defeat in decades.

Now that the credibility of the carbon tax has been destroyed, the smart thing to do — for everyone’s sake — is to repeal the carbon tax.

Now.

I mean, at this point, just repealing the carbon tax is unlikely to be enough to save Trudeau’s job prior to the next election.

But, for millions of Canadians sick and tired of seeing their cost of living go up so rapidly — while their incomes stagnate — repealing the carbon tax is the right thing to do.

Moe absent for Parents’ Bill of Rights second reading vote

Related Stories