Saskatchewan, Ontario and Alberta all went to court to argue the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act was unconstitutional because Ottawa was stepping into provincial jurisdiction.
In 2019, appeals courts in Saskatchewan and Ontario determined the policy was constitutional, while in February 2020 the Alberta Court of Appeal said it was not.
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The cases were all appealed to the Supreme Court, which heard the cases together in two days of hearings last September.
Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said late last year he was confident the court ruling would go the government’s way.
“We remain very confident in our legal position. We have been for some time,” he said in an interview with The Canadian Press in December.
“As you know, we’ve won two out of three of the cases at the provincial level and we remain confident that we will win in the Supreme Court.”
Josh Ginsberg, a lawyer with Ecojustice, says the ruling will decide if Canada can have a national approach to combating climate change or if it must be left up to each province.
“This is a very big deal,” said Ginsberg.
“It’ll be much more difficult for Canada to meet its climate targets, if we can’t ensure that there’s national carbon pricing,” he said.
Currently, the national carbon price on input fuels applies in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. All other provinces have a carbon-pricing system Ottawa deems to be the equivalent or better of the federal version.
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There is a separate program for big industrial emitters, who pay the price on a portion of their emissions rather than on the fuels they purchase.
The national carbon price is now $30 for every tonne of greenhouse gases produced when a particular fuel is burned. It adds about seven cents to the cost of a litre of gasoline.
Ottawa returns the revenues from the carbon price mainly through tax rebates to families in the provinces where the national price is paid.
2:04 N.B. cabinet still deciding what to do with $28 million in carbon tax revenue
TORONTO – A 21-year-old man is dead after what police are describing as an “interaction” with officers during the execution of a search warrant in Toronto.
York Regional Police say their officers were executing a search warrant in the area of Evans Avenue and Sherway Gardens Road at approximately 5 a.m. Monday.
Police say officers had an “interaction” with a man.
They say a 21-year-old man suffered life-threatening injuries and was taken to hospital.
Police say the man was pronounced dead there.
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit is investigating.
The watchdog agency investigates the conduct of police officers that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or discharge of a firearm at a person.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales rose 1.4 per cent to $71 billion in July, helped by higher sales in the petroleum and coal and chemical product subsectors.
The increase followed a 1.7 per cent decrease in June.
The agency says sales in the petroleum and coal product subsector gained 6.7 per cent to total $8.6 billion in July as most refineries sold more, helped by higher prices and demand.
Chemical product sales rose 5.3 per cent to $5.6 billion in July, boosted by increased sales of pharmaceutical and medicine products.
Sales of wood products fell 4.8 per cent for the month to $2.9 billion, the lowest level since May 2023.
In constant dollar terms, overall manufacturing sales rose 0.9 per cent in July.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
The head of a group that helps homeless people in Saint John, N.B., says it is mourning the death of a 58-year-old man whose body was found in an encampment over the weekend.
Johanne McCullough of Street Team Saint John says John Surette was known for his kindness and for taking care of people around him.
The Saint John Police Force say Surette’s body was found in a tent near Paradise Row in the north end of the city Saturday morning.
Investigators say the circumstances of the death are not considered criminal in nature and an autopsy has been scheduled.
Surrette was found not far from where three people died last winter in two separate tent fires.
McCullough says the community will remember Surrette for his helpfulness and generosity.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
