Supreme Court rules on carbon tax, Petition regarding Alberta’s coal mining expansion, Fourth COVID-19 variant in Montreal

Hadassah Alencar

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Supreme Court rules Ottawa’s carbon tax constitutional

The Supreme court decided Ottawa can hammer down a carbon tax on the provinces. 

Even though Conservatives couldn’t agree on this, the court said the climate crisis is a real and serious threat.

Ottawa has already prepared a minimum carbon pricing outline that’s ready for the provinces. 

If the provinces refuse to tack on those fees, Ottawa can do it for them.

Canadians can expect to pay these fees along with industrial companies.

Petition to have Ottawa intervene in Alberta’s coal mining plans

In other news, over 18,000 Canadians are urging Ottawa to intervene on Alberta’s plans to expand coal mines.

The popular petition was on the parliamentary website for almost a month, and was launched in collaboration with Indigenous water protectors.

They’re asking that Alberta consult with First Nations regarding coal mining projects, due to the severe environmental impacts coal mines have on the land. 

Fourth COVID-19 variant in Montreal

Montreal has a fourth variant of COVID-19 which was first recorded in Nigeria.

Only two Montrealers are known to have contracted this variant so far.

The city has identified a total of 704 known cases of COVID-19 variants.