Danielle Smith tells Ezra Levant how Alberta is fighting back against Trudeau's carbon tax

By Rebel News | Created at 2024-10-31 16:58:41 | Updated at 2024-10-31 19:32:18 3 hours ago

On this free episode of The Ezra Levant Show, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith joins the show to discuss her latest lawsuit against Justin Trudeau challenging the federal carbon tax.

Last October, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a three-year tax freeze for oil used to heat residential buildings, while also expanding low-income grants to install electric heat pumps in the Maritimes.

Across Canada, heating oil constitutes only 3% of residential heating energy, with very low usage except for PEI (40%), Nova Scotia (32%), and Newfoundland and Labrador (18%). In Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, the use of residential heating oil is negligible, according to the Government of Nova Scotia.

"If you're going to make the case that you need to have national jurisdiction, then you need to apply the rules fairly across the board," Premier Smith previously told Rebel News.

"That's the point that we're making. That is a point [Saskatchewan Premier] Scott Moe has made."

Meanwhile, the federal government says the judicial application amounts to incessant political posturing. Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Justice Minister Arif Virani iterated that the Supreme Court had previously approved the levy.

"When the Supreme Court okayed Trudeau’s carbon tax, it was because the government argued a national problem needs a national solution. But Trudeau torpedoed that argument by creating a carve-out that mostly benefits one part of the country," reads a column by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).

In the Supreme Court decision, it stipulated that "the withdrawal of one province from the scheme would clearly threaten its success."

Smith says the exemption is unfair to Albertans, who rely on natural gas to heat their homes, whereas Saskatchewan relies on natural gas and coal.

In March 2021, the Supreme Court upheld the federal carbon tax in a 6-3 decision despite legal challenges from both provinces and Ontario.