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“This does not make sense according to our Canadian constitution, and fails to respect the sovereignty and autonomy of the provinces with respect to matters under their jurisdiction,” he said. “Saskatchewan should not be subject to this tax simply because the Trudeau Liberals do not like our climate change plan.”

Responding to the challenge in Ottawa on Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that “there are still people out there who think there’s a choice to be made between what’s good for the environment and good for the economy.”

Saskatchewan has been threatening a legal challenge of the carbon tax since 2016, under Moe’s predecessor, Brad Wall. In December 2016, when most other provinces signed a pan-Canadian framework to fight climate change and agreed to put a price on carbon, Saskatchewan refused to sign on to the agreement, and has since remained in staunch opposition to any type of price on carbon.

Saskatchewan should not be subject to this tax simply because the Trudeau Liberals do not like our climate change plan. Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe

“This tax would reduce competitiveness here in the province of Saskatchewan,” Moe said. “And I would put forward it is a very slippery slope for our federal government to be infringing on what is provincial jurisdiction in this case.” If necessary, he said, he will take the province’s case to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Still, some constitutional lawyers have cast doubt on the odds of Saskatchewan’s challenge succeeding. “It’s a long shot,” said Stewart Elgie, professor of law and economics at the University of Ottawa. “Nothing’s ever impossible in law … but it’s definitely a long shot that Saskatchewan would win this.”