Alberta and Ontario have formally asked Ottawa to scrap five cornerstone climate policy statutes, arguing that federal overreach — not global markets — now poses the largest threat to provincial prosperity.
The joint letter, addressed to Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin ahead of next week’s ministers’ meeting in Yellowknife, demands the immediate repeal of the Impact Assessment Act (Bill C-69) and its regulations, the Clean Electricity Regulations, and the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act.
It also calls for suspension of the proposed oil-and-gas emissions cap, amendments to the Species at Risk Act “to respect the constitutional jurisdiction of the provinces,” and a pledge not to revive the dormant First-Nations water-infrastructure bill.
“Prime Minister [Mark] Carney has made a commitment to do things differently,” the provinces write, pressing Ottawa to “move away from policies and legislation that undermine competitiveness, delay project development, and disproportionately harm specific provinces.”
The letter also explicitly frames the ask as a counter to US incentives and tariffs. A unilateral federal retreat could strengthen Canada’s hand in ongoing negotiations with Washington but weaken its climate policy alignment with the EU.
Alberta effectively has the Supreme Court on its side: in 2023 the Court declared most of the Impact Assessment Act unconstitutional for intruding on provincial powers. Ontario, meanwhile, has warned that the federal clean-electricity mandate could add double-digit percentage points to consumer bills.
The provinces are betting that Carney’s early move to scrap the consumer carbon tax — his first order-in-council after taking office in March 2025 — signals an appetite for a broader regulatory reset. Carney also wants Canada to become an “energy superpower,” but industry groups say that goal is impossible while C-69’s project approval timelines average nearly a decade.
Repealing the Act would remove a federally imposed layer of review, trimming timelines but shifting the credibility burden to provinces already facing investor scrutiny over methane-leak reporting and reclamation liabilities.
Provincial coffers also gain from faster project approvals while Ottawa risks forfeiting billions in carbon tax revenue if the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act falls.
Should Carney yield, this will open the other provinces to move and will signal how far the new Liberal government is willing to decentralize climate policy in pursuit of growth.
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