REGINA – Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says Ottawa has rejected the province’s plan to replace the federal carbon price with one of its own.
Moe announced that the province would submit a plan for approval after the Supreme Court of Canada in March ruled the Liberal government’s price on carbon was constitutional.
People in Saskatchewan have been paying the federal carbon price on fuel, but Moe’s government had rejected that as being a punishing tax that made the province less competitive for business.
He said that Saskatchewan would introduce a carbon price similar to New Brunswick’s that would “provide an immediate rebate right at the pump.”
Federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said at the time he was open to seeing Saskatchewan’s plan, but it needed to meet minimum national standards, which his government’s latest climate plan said needed to be strengthened.
Moe says in a statement he sees the rejection of Saskatchewan’s proposal as an “arbitrary and political decision from Ottawa.”
The Liberal government has adopted legislation that commits Canada to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, and is supporting more aggressive policies to cut greenhouse gas emissions in transportation.