Ontario’s court of appeal put Laurentian Elite political consensus above the constitution on Friday when they released their carbon tax ruling.
Asked by the Ontario government to decide if the federal carbon tax was constitutional, the appeal court found, in a split decision, that yes it was. They did so not by relying on any enumerated power in the constitution but by falling back on the flimsy “Peace Order and Good Government” provision that federal governments relies on when they don’t have a solid argument otherwise.
The majority on the court bought it hook, line and sinker.
“The Act is within Parliament’s jurisdiction to legislate in relation to matters of ‘national concern’ under the ‘Peace, Order, and good Government’ (‘POGG’) clause of s. 91 of the Constitution Act, 1867,” the three member majority wrote in their decision.
It’s a weak position, a catch-all clause used when the powers laid out in Sections 91 and 92 of the constitution don’t fit the federal argument.
In fact, in their ruling the justices spend page after page not talking about the constitution, which this case was about, but rather the need for there to be action on climate change.
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