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Climate change, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal declares at the outset of its ruling on the constitutionality of federal carbon pricing legislation, “is one of the great existential issues of our time.” Indeed, it was accepted as such by all of the intervenors before it, as was the necessity of limiting greenhouse gas emissions to combat it.

Ah, but what is an existential issue — existential, as in existence — beside the “principle of federalism”? The continuing existence of the species not previously having been classified as either a federal or provincial responsibility, the government of Saskatchewan hoped to establish, in referring the matter to the court, that it is indeed strictly a provincial concern — or certainly nothing to warrant anything so radical as a federal carbon tax.

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That three-fifths of the Court of Appeal was unpersuaded by the province’s arguments may therefore be counted as something of a victory for the planet, federalism and the rule of law, not to say common sense. Had the court shot down the federal plan, it would have effectively doomed any chance of Canada meeting its international commitments for greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris Agreement, though that would not have stopped governments from switching to vastly more expensive means to sustain the attempt.