Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act

Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act
Supreme Court of Canada
Hearing: September 22–23, 2020 Judgment: 25 March 2021
Full case name	IN THE MATTER OF References to the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan, the Court of Appeal for Ontario and the Court of Appeal of Alberta respecting the constitutionality of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, S.C. 2018, c. 12, s. 186
Citations	2021 SCC 11
Docket No.	38663,38781,39116
Ruling	Appeals of the Attorney General of Saskatchewan and of the Attorney General of Ontario dismissed and appeal of the Attorney General of British Columbia allowed
Holding
The GGPPA is constitutional. It sets minimum national standards of GHG price stringency to reduce GHG emissions. Parliament has jurisdiction to enact this law as a matter of national concern under the peace, order, and good government (“POGG”) clause of s. 91 of the Constitution Act, 1867.
Court membership
Chief Justice	Wagner
Puisne Justices	R. Abella M. Moldaver A. Karakatsanis S. Côté R. Brown M. Rowe S. Martin N. Kasirer
Reasons given
Majority	Wagner C.J., joined by Abella, Moldaver, Karakatsanis, Martin and Kasirer JJ.
Concur/dissent	Côté J.
Dissent	Brown J.
Dissent	Rowe J.

In Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act 2021 SCC 11, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on 25 March 2021 that the federal carbon pricing law is constitutional.^[1]

Background[]

In response to Canada's 2016 ratification of the Paris Agreement which set greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, the Canadian federal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau passed the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (GHGPPA), which came into effect on 21 June 2018, establishing national standards for a carbon price.^{[2][Notes 1][3][4]}

The province of Saskatchewan under Premier Scott Moe filed an appeal, and on 3 May 2019 the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan ruled in favour of the federal government concluding that, GHGPPA is "not unconstitutional either in whole or in part."^[5][6][7] and was a legitimate exercise of federal power under peace, order, and good government" (POGG).^[8] Moe filed his appeal of the Saskatchewan decision to the Supreme Court of Canada on 31 May 2019.^[9]

Breakdown of the decision[]

The majority found the Act to be constitutional including Chief Justice Richard Wagner and Justices Rosalie Silberman Abella, Michael J. Moldaver, Andromache Karakatsanis, Sheilah L. Martin, and Nicholas Kasirer.^[1]

Justices Russell Brown and Malcolm Rowe dissented and Justice Suzanne Côté dissented in part.^[1]

Lower court rulings[]

The three lower court rulings include docket number 38663 heard in the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan, docket number 38781 in the Court of Appeal for Ontario, docket number 39116 in the Court of Appeal of Alberta.^[1]

Climate change is real[]

The Supreme Court said that "all of the parties agree that global climate change is real. It's caused by greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities and it poses a grave threat to the future of humanity."^[1]

Notes and references[]

Notes[]

References[]