Feds call Alberta's application for judicial review of carbon price a 'political stunt'

The federal government says Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's application for a judicial review of Ottawa's carbon levy is nothing more than political posturing.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Justice Minister Arif Virani say it's disappointing, but not surprising, that Smith is engaging in a "political stunt" ahead of her United Conservative Party leadership review this weekend.

"She knows full well that the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of carbon pricing," they said in a statement to The Canadian Press Wednesday.

They said the three-year exemption for home heating oil is meant to give Canadians time to switch to cheaper forms of home heating.

In Alberta, a family of four is to get $1,800 this year through the carbon rebate, the largest in the country, they said.

"We remain fully confident in the legality of Canada's carbon pricing system," their statement said.

Smith announced Tuesday her United Conservative Party government is asking the Federal Court to declare the carve-out unconstitutional and unlawful in hopes of seeing the carbon levy axed altogether.

In a speech to the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce Wednesday, Smith reiterated that the federal government has created a "double standard" by exempting heating oil, but not the natural gas many Albertans rely on.

"The carbon tax is an unnecessary punitive cost that does nothing to address affordability — and a higher cost of living means everything in life is more expensive," she said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals have said carbon pricing was designed to combat climate change and put more money into the pockets of Canadians in the form of rebates.

When Ottawa offered the three-year exemption for home heating oil, it also announced it would double the rebate for rural Canadians.

Guilbeault and Virani said Smith's government has refused to come to the table to open up their Oil to Heat Pump Affordability incentive program to Albertans.

Less than one per cent of households in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba use heating oil, according to the Alberta government.

In the past, Smith has urged lawmakers in Ottawa to pass an exemption for farmers using propane to dry grain and natural gas to heat barns.

Justin Brattinga, a spokesperson for Alberta's finance ministry, said in a statement the farm fuel exemption extends across the country.

"[This] is precisely our point. The heating oil exemption helps one specific region of the country and is a crass political move to attempt to buy votes in Atlantic Canada," Brattinga said.

Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi has said Smith's move is performative and demonstrates the premier would rather fight a lengthy legal battle with Ottawa than work to get a better deal for Alberta.

Still, he said, the federal government's carve-out for home heating oil has poisoned the well of public support for the carbon price.