SAINT ANDREWS, N.B.—Ontario will join Saskatchewan’s court case challenging the federal government’s right to impose a carbon tax on provinces.

Premier Doug Ford made the announcement Thursday alongside Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe at the Council of the Federation meeting of all 13 provincial and territorial leaders.

After a one-on-one meeting with Moe Wednesday night, Ford said the two premiers are on “exactly the same page.” He said Ontario will use “every tool at our disposal” to support Saskatchewan in its appeal of Ottawa’s carbon plan.

“Our provinces are strongest when we stand together and this will show unity and will send a clear message to the federal government,” said Ford, whose Progressive Conservative government has budgeted $30 million for the legal fight.

Amid growing discontent with the federal government’s plan to impose a carbon tax on provinces that do not come up with a carbon-pricing system it approves of, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet the premiers later this year to discuss the issue, sources told the Star.

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On Thursday, a spokesperson for federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said Ontario is “willing to spend $30 million of taxpayer money on fighting climate leadership.

“The minister is disappointed to see the new government in Ontario has no plan to help families, schools and businesses reduce emissions, save money and create good jobs. Climate change doesn’t stop with a change in government,” said Caroline Thériault.

Moe — whose province has a plan to reduce emissions without a carbon tax, one that Ottawa has been skeptical of — said the “a one-size-fits-all carbon tax fails to recognize the diverse nature of our great Canadian economy.”

Saskatchewan, he said, “has put forward a comprehensive, innovative climate change plan called the Prairie Resilience. We will accomplish our goal of addressing climate change, without a carbon tax.”

He said he is grateful Ontario is aiding in the court fight.

Neither he nor Ford took questions from reporters following their announcement.

Ontario was, up until recently, part of a cap-and-trade system in which carbon “credits” were bought and sold by polluters in a shared market with Quebec and California.

The province has announced it is withdrawing from that system, but has not provided any details about any alternate climate-change plans.

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil said his province has drastically reduced carbon emissions, and will stick with its plan is for an internal cap-and-trade system.

New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant said that while his government will comply, he will also keep a close eye on the outcome of the court challenge. However, he added, he’s been advised the federal government is on solid ground.

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Ford has conducted a number of informal meetings with premiers to talk about the carbon tax since he arrived in Saint Andrews on Wednesday. His government has until Nov. 30 to apply to intervene in the Saskatchewan case.

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner called it a “pointless legal battle” that “exposes the people of Ontario to more costs with little to gain.”

“The premier is taking us down a path that is ill-informed and reckless for our economy and our environment,” Schreiner said in a statement.

Gallant, whose province will “put a price on carbon so large emitters pay their fair share, but consumers” don’t pay a cent, said that he’s waiting to see what the provinces propose.

“From what I understand, provinces have other ideas and other ways to combat climate change,” he said. “Just because somebody says that they are going to take out one plan that existed doesn’t mean that they’re not going to put another plan in.”

Keith Brooks, program director at Environmental Defence, said the proposal to scrap carbon tax is “not a good use of taxpayer dollars that the premier says he values so highly.”

Brooks said the federal government has a clear jurisdiction to regulate greenhouse gas emission, and legal experts believe the challenge has no chance of being successful, on top of being costly.

Ontario was collecting some $2 billion a year in revenues from carbon tax, money that was being used to support various environmental programs, he added.

“Carbon pricing is widely agreed to be one of the most cost-effective ways to fight climate change,” he said. Other regulation measures can also be effective, such as targeting polluters and phasing out coal-fired electricity, he said.

“Regulation can be effective, but I think it’s going to be more expensive.”

Stewart Elgie, a professor of law and director of Environmental Institute at the University of Ottawa, said almost every federal environmental law in the last 40 years has been constitutionally challenged, and each has been upheld.

Furthermore, “Saskatchewan and Ontario claim that carbon pricing doesn’t work, and that’s simply not true,” Elgie said, noting most of the world’s major economies are now putting a price on carbon.

With files from Alex Ballingall, Robert Benzie and Gilbert Ngabo

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