Saskatchewan Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre said Monday its application for a court injunction to stop the Canada Revenue Agency from collecting the federal carbon tax from the province has succeeded.“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 in a statement Monday.In an interview with Global News, Eyre said Ottawa was out of bounds."The underpinning here is that the federal government cannot come and garnish money from the provincial consolidated revenue fund. That isn't allowed," she said.Eyre said Section 126 of Canada’s constitution was in the province's favour. The issue will now go a full hearing."So, an important win. This is one step of many."In 2023, following a federal decision to exempt carbon taxes on home heating oil, Premier Scott Moe announced there would be no carbon levy collected on home heating in Saskatchewan.Moe said the federal tax exemption was aimed squarely at Atlantic Canadian voters and that Saskatchewan should get a similar exemption for natural gas.Residents in the province have still been receiving carbon rebate cheques despite the dispute with Ottawa. Eyre said the Trudeau government has threatened the province by removing the rebates, adding fines, or even pressing charges against Saskatchewan executives.In April, Canada Revenue Agency announced it would audit the province to calculate lost carbon levies and hand Saskatchewan the bill.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the CRA is “very, very good” at getting money owed and bid Moe “good luck” in dealing with the agency.Trudeau has defended his decision to exempt home-heating oil for the next three years, saying it’s more expensive than natural gas. When the exemption was offered, he said Ottawa would not offer any others.An analysis by CBC showed that the cost to produce one gigajoule of heat energy in Saskatchewan by natural gas was $7.95, with $4.14 of carbon taxes tacked on making it $12.09. Meanwhile, home heating oil in Prince Edward Island cost $42.53 per gigajoule of heat, plus $5.34 in carbon taxes, making the total cost $47.87.According to Statistics Canada, home heating oil is not used at all on the prairies, and used by 1% of British Columbians. However, 40% of PEI residents, 32% of Nova Scotians, 18% of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and 7% of New Brunswick residents use fuel oil.The average Canadian home fuel oil user consumes 62 GJ annually, though those in PEI burn through 80 GJ. Saskatchewan natural gas users consume 92 GJ on average due to colder temperatures.By CBC math, the cost to heat PEI homes by fuel oil at $3,388 without carbon taxes, while Saskatchewan natural gas furnaces cost users $1,463 annually--carbon taxes included.
