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OTTAWA — Proposed changes to Alberta’s carbon tax on industrial firms could become the province’s latest bargaining chip with Ottawa, amid souring relations between the two over differences in climate change policy.

Environment Minister Catherine McKenna is currently reviewing a proposal by Alberta to adjust its so-called “Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction,” or TIER, a carbon tax applied solely to heavy emitters. Alberta posted the proposed changes late October.

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If Ottawa determines that the proposal falls short of its environmental thresholds it could enforce its own regulatory regime in the province, similar to the highly controversial consumption-based carbon tax that will come into force there in January 2020.

Such a move would further inflame tensions between Ottawa and the West, where resentment toward the federal government has been running high since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won a narrow minority government and failed to win a single seat in Alberta or Saskatchewan. Observers said it is unlikely Ottawa would do so in the current political climate, despite criticism that the proposed changes will provide more cushion to the most emissions-intensive facilities in the province.