Ontario’s Court of Appeal decision that the federal carbon tax was in fact constitutional means Ontarians will continue to pay Canada’s backstop carbon price, which came into effect April 1st, 2019. Residents of the province will remain able to claim the Climate Action Incentive rebate, which was claimed by 97% of eligible Canadians this year.

The court’s decision arrives in the wake of a groundbreaking report from Clean Prosperity and EnviroEconomics, which showed that Ford’s climate plan would cost households $210 per year by 2022 – twice as much as the federal plan for every tonne of carbon removed.

Clean Prosperity applauds the court’s decision, which implements a fair, effective and affordable policy that not only helps to fight climate change, but eases the cost burden of doing so with a rebate for families. According to the PBO’s report released in April, 8 out of 10 Ontario households will get back more in carbon rebates than they pay in costs associated with the tax.

The federal government gave Ontario and all other provinces the opportunity to set their own carbon pricing program, so long as it met federal standards, but has introduced the backstop carbon price in the four provinces that did not develop compliant policies (Saskatchewan, Ontario, Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Alberta).

“The court decision may not have gone his way, but it should be welcomed by Premier Doug Ford because it gives him the chance to change course on his misguided efforts to fight the carbon tax.” Said Michael Bernstein, Executive Director of Clean Prosperity, “Ford has slammed the carbon tax as too expensive and too costly to the economy, going as far as to claim it will cause a “recession” and be the “worst tax ever,” but his own plan would cost Ontarians much more and be a far bigger drag on the economy. This ruling should be considered a victory for both the environment, and Ontario families and businesses.”