A little over a year ago, Alberta intervened with the Federal Court to argue that the federal government’s decision to unilaterally label plastic as a ‘toxic substance’ is an unconstitutional intrusion into provincial jurisdiction and a threat to our economy.
In a ruling released Thursday, Justice Angela Furlanetto wrote that it was “unreasonable and unconstitutional” to list all plastic manufactured products as toxic in the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, adding that the federal government “acted outside of their authority.”
The court also had to educate the federal government on what exactly their job is, reminding them that “cooperative federalism recognizes that the provincial government and federal government are coordinate – the provinces are not subordinate to the federal government.”
Soon after the decision, Premier Danielle Smith and Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schulz highlighted how Ottawa’s policies have put “thousands of jobs and billons of investments at risk. To echo our Premier and Environment Minister, it’s time for the federal government to listen to the courts and to Canadians, act within their scope, and acknowledge their continued pattern of overreach and the wide-ranging consequences this behaviour has had on the provinces.
Alberta is proudly home to Canada’s largest petrochemical sector, a sector with more than $18 billion in recently announced projects that were needlessly put in jeopardy by a virtue-signaling federal government with no respect for the division of powers outlined in the Canadian Constitution.
For those keeping score, this is the second time in only two months that the Liberals’ climate policies have been slapped down by our countries highest courts. In October, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Bill C-69 was also unconstitutional. We hope this latest decision marks a turning point in the federal government’s approach, but we won’t hold our breath.
Premier Smith and our entire United Conservative team are listening and responding to the needs of Albertans. Alberta is back, leading the nation in economic prosperity, freedom, and opportunity. And we will work tirelessly to ensure this does not change.
