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“The UCP is uniquely to offer a perspective on how the Court’s decision … affects Albertans,” the documents say.

Friday was the deadline to apply to be an intervener — an interested party, not directly involved, that is granted permission to raise issues for a court to consider in its decision-making. The court will hear the applications on Dec. 12.

The federal government had previously announced that it would impose a carbon tax on any province without an emission pricing plan of its own. It’s slated to take effect in Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick in April 2019, and in Yukon and Nunavut in July 2019.

But Alberta already has its own carbon pricing scheme, implemented by the NDP government. Still, Jason Kenney’s conservatives have promised to repeal that plan and fight against any federal carbon tax in court, should his party win the election, which will be held before the end of May 2019. Kenney has said that even if his government lost the court challenge, the federal carbon tax would be better than the NDP’s.

A spokesperson for the Alberta government defended its climate plan and criticized Kenney’s decision to waste money fighting the federal government.

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Eric Adams, a law professor at the University of Alberta, said it’s “very rare” for an opposition party to get involved in the way the UCP has.

“It’s altogether possible that the court refuses” to grant intervener status to the UCP, Adams said. If it does, other provinces are making similar arguments.