‘A political mud puddle:’ Lawyer discusses Moe’s carbon tax ultimatum

Premier Scott Moe is trying to save Saskatchewan residents some money on the carbon tax, but it could put his government back in court.

Moe wants the federal government to include Saskatchewan in its pause on carbon pricing, which currently is only benefiting residents of Atlantic Canada, where heating oil is used by at least 40 per cent of homes.

Eric Adams, a professor of law at the University of Alberta, said the situation is a mess.

“It appears to be a political mud puddle that the federal government has clearly created,” he said Monday.

Adams is shocked that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wasn’t ready for a scenario like this to develop.

“It’s hard to imagine they weren’t prepared for these kinds of arguments. When you seem to reward one part of the country with a rebate or exemption, people in the other parts of the country and indeed their premiers are going to loudly, and quite reasonably say, ‘What about us?’ ” explained Adams.

Although Adams finds it reasonable for Moe to want Saskatchewan included in the exemption, the professor said the province can’t simply opt out of collecting carbon tax.

“Provinces and their premiers don’t get to pick and choose which federal laws apply in a particular jurisdiction,” he said.

Adams suggested the legal argument the Saskatchewan government could make is SaskEnergy is a Crown corporation and cannot be subject to federal regulations. But he doesn’t think that argument would stand in court.

“What Premier Moe is trying to do I think here is elevate the stakes for the federal government, and to say, ‘We’re not participating in this anymore, so take us to court if you must.’ And maybe that’s where we’re headed,” Adams said.

The Saskatchewan government has gone to court with the federal government before over the carbon tax. It was not successful on its constitutional challenge, losing in a 6-3 vote in the Supreme Court.

Adams said it’s too early to predict if this will cause political consequences, but he’s convinced the federal government is in damage control right now.

“One of the things (federal government officials) are going to be thinking about is, ‘How do we solve some of this mess?’ And if they can, then maybe they can prevent other provinces from taking these kinds of aggressive measures to opt out,” he said.

Adams predicts Saskatchewan and other provinces will ramp up their political rhetoric.

“I think it’s fair to say this is just a new front opening up in a long-standing political fight about carbon pricing. But it’s also one that the federal government has created by exempting people in one part of the country more than folks in the prairies,” he said.