Sask. government calls on Doug Ford to help fight federal carbon tax

The Saskatchewan Government is looking to other provinces in its fight against a federal carbon tax.

In April, the government submitted a reference case to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeals in April to determine if the federal carbon tax is constitutional.

Minister of Environment Dustin Duncan said the government is reaching out to other provinces to intervene in their case and they will be reaching out to Doug Ford, the new premier of Ontario.

Ford was sworn in as the Ontario premier on Friday and has previously said his first act will be to cancel Ontario's cap and trade program to reduce carbon emissions.

"It's certainly nice to have an ally in government across Canada that seems to support the position of the province of Saskatchewan," Duncan said.

He said the Saskatchewan government is willing to share information with Ford, both about the tax-free climate change strategy they're developing and the legal arguments they'll be making at the court of appeal.

The Saskatchewan government has said it believes carbon emissions fall under provincial and not federal jurisdiction.

Duncan told CBC he believes the court challenge is part of a bigger picture as well.

"If we cede this ground as provincial governments in allowing the federal government to essentially impose a federal tax on individual provinces, there's really no stopping the federal government from doing this in other areas."