![]() ![]() ![]() The majority conceded that while the GGPPA impacts the provinces’ legislative jurisdiction, the impact was justified. ” The majority considered the issue of GHG emissions to be of clear concern to Canada as a whole in light of the “irreversible harm would be felt across if the federal government was not given authority to address GHG emissions.” ![]() According to the majority, the POGG Power is involved where there is a “provincial inability to deal with matter” and where “failure of one or more provinces to cooperate would prevent the other provinces from successfully addressing. The majority also held that the GGPPA fell under the federal government’s POGG Power under the national concern branch. The national minimum standards would serve as a national backstop to give effect to the federal government’s purpose of ensuring GHG pricing applies broadly across Canada. Īpplied to the GGPPA, the majority held that the subject matter of the GGPPA is establishing minimum national standards of GHG price stringency to reduce GHG emissions. The second stage involves classifying the legislation’s subject matter as either within a federal or provincial head of power under the Constitution. The first stage involves assessing the challenged legislation’s purpose and effects, with a view to characterizing its subject matter. The majority began by applying the two-stage analytical approach for reviewing legislation on federalism grounds. The majority in Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act held that the GGPPA was constitutional. Both Ontario and Saskatchewan appealed their respective appellate courts’ decisions to the SCC. In contrast, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal and the Ontario Court of Appeal held that the GGPPA was within the federal legislative jurisdiction. The Alberta Court of Appeal held the GGPPA to be unconstitutional on the basis the legislation exceeded the federal jurisdiction. The governments of Alberta, Ontario, and Saskatchewan each challenged the constitutionality of the GGPPA, submitting the matter to their provincial courts of appeal. A federally managed backstop system under the GGPPA would apply in provinces or territories that do not have a system that meets the criteria or if the province or territory requests the federal system be used. ![]() The GGPPA requires that all provincial and territorial governments establish a pollution pricing scheme that meets the national minimum price per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent and establish emission caps. The pricing standards are divided in two parts: a regulatory charge on carbon-based fuels and an output-based emissions trading system for polluting industries. The GGPPA is a federal law which aims to put a price on GHG emissions in Canada through binding “minimum national standards” on Canada’s federal government and its provinces and territories. The governments of Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan had challenged the GGPPA’s constitutionality for encroaching on the provincial power to legislate over their natural resources. In its decision, the SCC ruled that the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (the “ GGPPA”) is constitutional because the law is within the federal government’s jurisdiction to legislate in relation to matters of national concern, under the federal “peace, order, and good government” power (the “ POGG Power”) of Canada’s Constitution Act, 1867 (the “ Constitution”). The SCC’s ruling will allow the federal government to move forward with its plan to ensure each Canadian province and territory has a price on carbon to curb greenhouse gas (“ GHG”) emissions, helping Canada meet its emission targets under the Paris Climate Agreement. On March 25, 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada (the “ SCC”) released its decision in Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, upholding the constitutionality of a federal law establishing minimum national standards for carbon pricing in Canada. ![]()
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