Supreme Court affirms federal role in climate policy

Significance

The ruling ends a concerted effort by a group of Conservative premiers to have federal carbon pricing overturned. It is now an established pillar of Canada’s climate change mitigation policy and is expected to survive largely unchanged even if the Conservatives win the next federal election.

Impacts

• A Conservative government may alter some aspects of the Liberal carbon tax but will retain most of the current pricing regime.
• Conservative governments in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario, which opposed the federal scheme, may lose upcoming provincial elections.
• Carbon pricing will have a particular impact in Western Canada and rural areas as fuel prices for transport and heating increase.