The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe to join the Alberta government and constitutionally challenge the federal carbon tax.

“Moe has rightly opposed the federal carbon tax since the beginning, but now he has a new chance to beat it in court,” said Gage Haubrich, CTF Prairie Director. “Last time the carbon tax fight went to the Supreme Court, the federal government argued it needed a national carbon tax to deal with a national problem. But then it undercut its own argument for a national carbon tax by making an exception for furnace oil, which clearly favours Atlantic Canada.

“Trudeau torpedoed his own constitutional argument for imposing a carbon tax so it’s time to challenge it in court again.”

The Alberta government announced it has filed an application at the federal court challenging the constitutionality of the carbon tax in the wake of the federal government’s heating oil carbon tax exemption.

Last year, the federal government announced it is removing the carbon tax from heating oil for three years, but did not exempt other forms of home heating energy.

The carbon tax currently costs 17 cents per litre of gasoline and 21 cents per litre of diesel. The federal government plans to increase the carbon tax to 37 cents per litre of gasoline and 45 cents per litre of diesel by 2030. 

The carbon tax will cost the Saskatchewan economy $476 million this year, based on data published by Environment and Climate Change Canada.

“When Trudeau announced his heating oil carve out, he admitted the carbon tax makes life more expensive, he admitted the carbon tax is all about politics and he left the vast majority of Canadians out in the cold,” Haubrich said. “Moe needs to take this new opportunity to join other provinces and fight the carbon tax in court.”

A recent Leger poll commissioned by the CTF shows 55 per cent of people in Saskatchewan and Manitoba want the federal government to remove the carbon tax from all heating fuels.

The CTF published a column about a potential constitutional challenge in the National Post.