The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN), which has territory in Saskatchewan, has requested that the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal grant it intervenor status in the carbon tax reference case.
In April, the Saskatchewan government asked the province’s Court of Appeal to determine if implementing a carbon tax under the federal government’s Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act is unconstitutional.
In a statement from ACFN Chief Allan Adam, he said they support the Act and called the legal action by Saskatchewan “dangerous and irresponsible.”
“For First Nations people in Canada’s North, climate change is not a theoretical topic. It is something that we are confronting now, and require the cooperation of Canada and all the provinces in order to roll back.”
Adam said their ability to hunt, fish and navigate on their traditional territories are just some of the examples of how climate change has impacted their ability to survive.
According to the statement, the province consulted over 80 stakeholders during the development of their climate change plan. None of those stakeholders were First Nations groups.
