The Supreme Court of Canada today ruled in favor of the constitutionality of the Federal Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (2018). This decision confirms that the federal government has the authority to set national carbon pricing standards in Canada.
The Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) applauds the decision and notes that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions represent a major public health problem, because whatever their source, they disrupt biophysical systems and economic and threaten the well-being and health of populations everywhere. These effects will disproportionately affect the most vulnerable in society, but all communities will be affected.
“We are satisfied with the Court’s decision, which confirms the role of the federal government in protecting the health of Canadians,” said CPHA Executive Director Ian Culbert. All levels of government must act together to prevent the negative health effects of carbon pollution. “
This court ruling ensures that carbon pollution will be priced across the country and will help Canada meet its commitments under the Paris Agreement, a global agreement that aims to contain the rise in average temperature of the planet well below 2 ° C compared to pre-industrial levels and to continue the action taken to limit the rise in temperature to 1.5 ° C compared to pre-industrial levels.
The decision confirms that all governments in Canada, both federal and provincial, have the authority to fight greenhouse gas emissions, which represent the greatest threat to public health of the 21st century. Public health is a government responsibility shared between the provinces and the federal Parliament. The CPHA calls on the federal government to intensify its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with its constitutional authority in order to fulfill its responsibility to protect public health in Canada.
“Our collective response to climate change may also be the ‘opportunity of the century’ for health, as many of the policies needed to tackle climate change, such as pricing carbon pollution, will have joint benefits for health. health, including reducing health care costs, in addition to improving social cohesion and equity in our communities, ”says Mr. Culbert.
CPHA was one of the interveners arguing for the power of the federal government to enact the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act. Jennifer L. King, Michael Finley and Liane Langstaff, lawyers within from the Environmental Law Group of Gowling WLG, represented the CPHA during the intervention.
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