Federal Court rejects Manitoba's argument against carbon price backstop
The Manitoba government has lost a two-year-long court battle against the federal government's carbon pricing plan.
A Federal Court judge has rejected Manitoba's argument that Ottawa should not have imposed an escalating minimum price on carbon, because the province was planning its own emissions plan that could have been just as effective.
"The (Ottawa) decisions were consistent with the statutory purpose of reducing (greenhouse gas) emissions by putting a price on them," Justice Richard Mosely wrote in a judgment released Tuesday.
"The inclusion of Manitoba on the list (of provinces subject to federally imposed pricing) was consistent with the statutory purpose and the guideline of ensuring that emissions pricing is applied broadly in Canada."
Former Manitoba premier Brian Pallister planned to have a flat $25 per tonne price on carbon. That was lower than the federal figure, but Pallister said Manitoba deserved credit for billions of dollars spent on clean hydroelectric projects, which utility customers continue to pay for.
Ottawa brought in a "backstop" carbon price on provinces that did not develop a carbon-pricing or cap-and-trade plan that met or exceeded the federal one. Saskatchewan, Alberta and Ontario argued the federal government was interfering in provincial jurisdiction. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled last March that Ottawa was within its constitutional authority.
The Manitoba government continued with its more limited court argument that the federal government has no right to impose a carbon pricing plan in a province where one already exists to reduce emissions equally.
Pallister said Manitoba's emissions plan, which included wetlands improvements and subsidies for fuel efficiency in the trucking industry, could meet or exceed federal targets without imposing a high carbon tax.
The judge said not only was Manitoba's plan not enacted at the time of the court challenge, the province's math was wrong.
"Manitoba relies on a misreading of its own evidence," Mosley wrote.
"According to Manitoba's own evidence, Manitoba's plan is 76,000 tonnes of CO2 (equivalent) lesseffective in 2022 than a price in accordance with the (federal criteria)."
Pallister stepped down as premier last month. There was no immediate comment from the Progressive Conservative government.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'