Chiefs of Ontario asks for judicial review of carbon price regime

Nov 30, 2023 | 9:53 AM

TORONTO — First Nations leaders in Ontario are asking a court to review what they call Canada’s “discriminatory” carbon price system.

A group representing more than 130 First Nations in the province has filed an application for judicial review in Federal Court, saying the system places an unjust price on their communities without suitable cost relief.

The Chiefs of Ontario says the federal government failed to meaningfully engage with repeated attempts to find a solution and denied their request for an exemption only to then make a carveout targeting concerns in Atlantic Canada last month.

The application asks the court to order the government back to the table to negotiate a solution that upholds the carbon price’s purpose to “alleviate the climate crisis” without worsening the “human rights crisis” experienced by First Nations.