The premier of Saskatchewan says his province will continue to fight the Trudeau government’s carbon tax — and will go to court to do so.
As CBC News reports, Premier Scott Moe told reporters Wednesday that the Liberal government’s insistence of a Canada-wide carbon tax at the gas pumps has forced the province to seek a judicial remedy.
“The reason we’ll be doing that is a carbon tax just simply does not work,” he said.
Moe said the province will seek to determine whether the federal government can force a provincial government to slap a carbon tax on gasoline.
Saskatchewan is the only province that has not adopted a carbon tax voluntarily. Because it has resisted the levy, the Trudeau government is imposing a tax of $10 per ton of carbon dioxide emissions — which adds up to roughly 10 cents on a liter of gas.
The premier said his province is still “making every effort into reducing its emissions,” but noted that there is little his jurisdiction can do to affect the global picture if other countries with large populations continue to produce greenhouse gasses without constraint.
“If we want to address what is a global challenge…in climate change, we need to start talking about carbon emissions on a global basis.”
Moe also accused the Trudeau government of hiding its carbon tax in the federal budget that was released last month. The document lists the carbon tax as one of the government’s environmental initiatives.
“They wouldn’t let this bill stand on its own, they want to lump it in with a budget bill so that they will be able to pass it with other budgetary measures,” Moe said.
“If they were confident in their position, their position on infringing on provincial jurisdiction, they would let the bill stand on its own.”