Province says federal government being ‘presumptuous’ in dispute over carbon taxes

Saskatchewan’s environment minister is calling a statement from the federal government that the province will have a carbon tax “presumptuous.”

Dustin Duncan made the comments one day after the federal government stated it is rejecting Saskatchewan’s request to be exempt from a carbon pricing plan.

Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna said in a letter to Duncan she will “remain hopeful” the province will change its course before the Sept. 1 deadline to put in place its own carbon pricing plan.

But she has also repeatedly said if Saskatchewan fails to do so, the federal government will impose a carbon pricing scheme on the province.

On Tuesday, Duncan told reporters: “It’s a little presumptuous of the federal minister to state pretty definitively that Saskatchewan will have a carbon tax.”

He added the province has “indicated we have a plan, it’s a made-inSaskatchewan plan, that we will not stand by to have a carbon tax imposed either by us or by the federal government” and that “if it needs to, this decision will ultimately go to the courts.”

McKenna has signalled Saskatchewan’s own plan, called Prairie Resilience, does not meet federal standards and would not stand as a replacement for a carbon pricing scheme being put forward by Ottawa. The federal plan calls for a “floor price” of $10 a tonne on carbon pollution, before rising in subsequent years. The Saskatchewan plan does not explicitly include a carbon tax, but would put a price on pollution from heavy emitters.

The province remains confident in its ability to avoid that scenario, however.

Duncan said “it’s still fairly early” and “lawyers are still reviewing” federal draft legislation that would impose a price on carbon in Saskatchewan, but that “we certainly believe this is provincial jurisdiction” and if it goes to court, “we can mount a pretty credible case.”

The province has not provided any information on why it remains confident in winning a court case over the matter.

No opinions from provincial lawyers have been provided to the public, nor has any information on why the province feels it has the legal grounds to be successful in court.

Duncan said Tuesday that, “You will see our legal arguments when we get to court. ”