Ontario top court upholds government’s carbon pollution tax News
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Ontario top court upholds government’s carbon pollution tax

Ontario’s top court ruled Friday that Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act is constitutional and has the critical purpose of fighting climate change.

The Act,passed by Parliament in 2018,puts a price on carbon pollution in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to encourage innovation and the use of clean technologies. It places a fuel charge on certain producers, distributors and importers that produce carbon-based fuels.

Ontario argued that Parliament does not have the power under the Constitution to enact the law and that the charges the Act imposes are unconstitutional taxes.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario found that the Act comes within Parliament’s power under the Constitution to legislate on matters that are of national concern for the “Peace, Order, and good Government” of Canada. Justice Huscroft dissented.