What does the future look like for carbon pricing in Doug Ford's Ontario?

The battle against a carbon tax between the federal Liberal government and Ontario is expected to continue, despite Prime Minister Doug Ford's photo session with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday.

Ford and Trudeau meet for the first time, the Prime Minister traveling to Queen's Park just six days after the new Progressive Conservative government came to power.

The first act of the Ford government was a direct rejection of Trudeau's climate change program: the cancellation of Ontario's cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions.

But for the next move, Trudeau brandishes a hammer: unless Ford presents its own carbon pricing plan in Ottawa on September 1, the federal government will impose its carbon tax of $ 20 / ton starting Jan. 1.

Provinces do not want to be part of the national plan, the federal government will go ahead with a safety net for the price of carbon, "Trudeau told reporters Thursday after meeting with Ford: "The clear mandate I was elected for was to put in place a national plan to fight climate change, which I will do."

Trudeau a stated that the money that Ottawa derives from carbon pricing in the province will be returned directly to Ontarians.

Ford did not speak to reporters after the meeting. In a statement, the door Simon Jefferies said Ford and the PCs "will fight all efforts of the federal government to impose a carbon tax on the people of Ontario in the courts. "

It is far from certain court battle.

"All the legal badyzes I've seen so far indicate that the federal government has the power to impose a carbon price, if the province does not have one," said Thursday the leader of the Green Party of the Conservative Party of Ontario, Mike Schreiner. I think it's useless for the Prime Minister to try to engage in a legal battle with the federal government: it would be a waste of money and a waste of time, "said Mr. Schreiner in an interview with CBC News. "I do not think anyone voted for the new prime minister to waste money in a legal battle that we are going to lose."

The legal challenge would cost taxpayers $ 30 million, MPs said during the election campaign.

The Manitoba government, initially opposed to the federal climate plan, sought independent legal advice that the Supreme Court would likely be on the side of Ottawa on the issue.

"The experts all said unanimously that the federal government clearly had the jurisdiction to do it in any province," said Keith Brooks, director of programs at Toronto's environmental group.

"We have every expectation to believe that there will be a carbon price in Ontario on January 1, 2019," Brooks said in an interview Thursday with CBC News.

At this point, it clearly looks like the price of carbon will be the version of Ottawa. Mr. Schreiner is trying to induce Ford to adopt what he calls a system of "emission and dividend rights": to charge polluters to emit greenhouse gases and to reimburse all profits to Ontario taxpayers

"He can fulfill his campaign promise to create jobs, boost our economy, put money in people's pockets and fight climate change" said Schreiner.

Ford introduced the carbon price debate as a pocket problem, putting aside the question of how to reduce Ontario's carbon emissions. The CPs have not indicated that they would meet the province's greenhouse gas reduction targets, which are currently in law.

"I think it's reasonable for the Prime Minister to take the time to understand what he wants to do about climate change," Brooks said. "The good news is that he says he believes in climate change." However, without the cap and trade or a carbon tax, Brooks said that it was not clear how Ford would achieve the province's emissions targets.

Schreiner. "Getting rid of our existing programs without having a spare plan in place, it's playing with the future of our children and I think it's irresponsible."