The government of Saskatchewan recently filed an application for a court injunction to stop the Canada Revenue Agency from collecting the federal carbon tax from the province.
The court just ruled in favour of this application and has blocked the federal government from garnishing money from the province of Saskatchewan unconstitutionally. However, this decision is pending a full hearing and a determination of the continuation of the injunction by the federal court.
According to Bronwyn Eyre, the provincial justice minister and attorney general, garnishing a provincial bank account violates section 126 of Canada’s Constitution.
This issue between the province and the federal government has been growing since 2023. In 2023, Premier Scott Moe announced that there would be no carbon levy on electric heating in Saskatchewan. This was announced shortly after the federal government decided to exempt home heating oil from the carbon tax.
The province has not been collecting the federal carbon tax on natural gas since the beginning of the year; residents of Saskatchewan have still been receiving carbon rebate checks this year. SaskEnergy announced that it would no longer collect the Federal Carbon Tax on natural gas starting January 1, 2024.
However, the federal government has since threatened to add fines, lay charges against Saskatchewan executives, and remove rebates for a failure to pay the carbon levy on electric heating. At this time, the federal government does not plan to exempt natural gas heating costs from the carbon levy.
