By Alice McFarlane

Carbon Tax Dispute

Carbon tax would have extraordinary impact on farmers: APAS lawyer

Feb 13, 2019 | 5:05 PM

Today the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal began hearing arguments on the federal carbon tax.

Saskatchewan government lawyer Mitch McAdam said the case is not about denying that climate change is a problem but said the tax is unconstitutional because it’s not applied evenly in all provinces.

The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) was granted intervenor status in the case.

Khurrum Awan from the Regina law firm Miller Thomson spoke on behalf of APAS.

Court Proceedings

Former Sask. Stockyards Company fined $250K for fatal workplace incident

May 16, 2024

Gene-edited livestock feed

CFIA says gene-edited livestock feed is safe

May 08, 2024

seeding

Lack of moisture allows some Sask. farmers to begin seeding early

Apr 25, 2024

“The act is going to apply to producers and distributors of key inputs for the agricultural sector. The act will apply to trucking and railway companies including those operating entirely in Saskatchewan and these costs are going to be passed on to farmers in a context where they are price takers in a global market,” Awan said. “This really has an extraordinary impact on farming because there is nobody that they can really pass on these costs to.”

Awan argued the province is in the best position to implement a plan to address climate change.

“We say in this case the provinces are capable of acting alone or in concert to pass legislation relating to carbon pricing. All the provinces have the ability to deal with climate change arising from the operation of provincial business and consumer activity,” Awan said.

The hearing continues Thursday.

–

alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF