Canada’s main crude-producing province, Alberta, on Wednesday introduced a bill to repeal the provincial carbon tax, setting up a legal tussle between Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government in Ottawa.
Kenney and his party last month swept to power in Alberta on a platform that promised to champion the province’s beleaguered energy industry and stand up to the federal government.
Scrapping Alberta’s carbon tax, introduced by the previous government, was a major part of Kenney’s campaign.
Photo: Bloomberg
It would be the first piece of legislation tabled by the new government, but puts the province on a collision course with Trudeau’s Liberals ahead of a national election in the fall.
The move would automatically trigger a federal carbon tax aimed at provinces that do not have their own plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
“The carbon tax has been all economic pain and no environmental gain,” Kenney told reporters at a news conference. “If Justin Trudeau’s government then seeks to impose a federal carbon tax in Alberta, we will see him in court.”
Alberta would join Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan when it challenges the federal carbon tax in court.
Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal earlier this month ruled that the tax does not violate the Canadian constitution, marking a victory for Trudeau on one of his trademark policies.
Kenney said his government has a stronger case than Saskatchewan, because Alberta would still impose a levy on large industrial carbon emitters.
The Carbon Tax Repeal Act would provide C$1.4 billion (US$1.04 billion) in tax relief to Albertans and create 6,000 jobs, the government said in the first legislative session in the provincial capital, Edmonton.
“Now more than ever Canadians expect their leaders to work together to reduce pollution, not play politics,” said Vanessa Adams, spokeswoman for the Minister of Natural Resources Canada, in an e-mailed statement. “If Premier Kenney dismantles Alberta’s climate plan, the federal backstop will apply.”
Kenney’s government also plans to submit legislation to lower Alberta’s corporate tax rate from 12 to 8 percent, cut back on regulation, and guarantee oil and gas royalty rates, moves aimed at increasing the competitiveness of the energy industry.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in server chips, expects revenue to decline this year due to sagging demand for 5-nanometer artificial intelligence (AI) chips from a North America-based major customer, a company executive said yesterday. That would be the first contraction in revenue for Alchip as it has been enjoying strong revenue growth over the past few years, benefiting from cloud-service providers’ moves to reduce dependence on Nvidia Corp’s expensive AI chips by building their own AI accelerator by outsourcing chip design. The 5-nanometer chip was supposed to be a new growth engine as the lifecycle
RSS