The Ontario Superior Court has struck down legislation that forced Ontario gas stations to put stickers about the federal fuel charge on their pumps, finding it violated the retailers’ freedom of expression.
<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-377532" src="https://www.qpbriefing.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Screen-Shot-2020-09-04-at-4.13.44-PM.png" alt="" width="259" height="328" />The Ford government passed the Federal Carbon Tax Transparency Act last year in the height of its battle with the federal government over the carbon pricing backstop and the fuel charge included in it. The stickers warn that it adds to the price of gas — but neglects to tell consumers about the tax rebate component of the federal plan that offsets those added costs.
The Canadian Civil Liberties’ Association (CCLA) successfully argued that the sticker law is an example of unconstitutional “compelled speech.”
Justice Edward Morgan didn’t accept the province’s argument that it was merely trying to inform people about the price of fuel — he found it was sending “political missives” instead.
He found the stickers are “inaccurate and misleading,” starting with their reference to the “Federal Carbon Tax,” as the Ontario Court of Appeal has determined the fuel charge is a regulatory charge and not a tax — something the provincial government well knows.
“Persisting in calling it a ‘carbon tax’ would be perfectly acceptable in political advertising or in a politician’s speech, but it is an intentional use of ‘spin’ that reveals the advocacy rather than informational thrust of the message,” he wrote in <a href="https://ccla.org/cclanewsite/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/CCLA-v-AG-Ontario-judgment-202009041.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the ruling</a>.
Morgan also accepted the CCLA’s argument that while the sticker purports to explain the true cost of the federal fuel charge, it omits the tax rebates, rendering it a half-truth.
“That kind of half-truth is not very truthful,” he wrote. “While a rebate and tax refund program may not lower the price of gas at the pump, they are self-evidently a relevant part of the pricing package.”
That dishonesty extends to the legislation that mandates the stickers, he found.
“For example, in labelling itself the Federal Carbon Tax Transparency Act, but in making transparent only those aspects of the federal policy that fit the government of Ontario’s political narrative, the statute speaks in the voice of an unreliable narrator,” Morgan wrote. “It is a ‘Tell-Tale Heart’ approach to drafting, as where the ostensibly objective narrator of Edgar Allen Poe’s famous tale is revealed as ultimately complicit in the acts he describes and their mode of description.”
And it appears Energy Minister Greg Rickford said the quiet part out loud when he uttered this politically charged statement in the legislature: “We’re going to stick it to the Liberals and remind the people of Ontario how much this job-killing, regressive carbon tax costs.”
“A government or political party can, in the words of Ontario’s Minister of Energy, ‘stick it to’ another tier of government or political party as a matter of free speech in an election campaign or otherwise,” Morgan wrote. “But a government cannot legislate a requirement that private retailers post a sticker designed to accomplish that task. That mandatory fuel pump sticker is an unconstitutional attempt to do just that.”
Furthermore, Morgan rejected the government’s legal argument that the stickers weren’t really a big deal.
“The freedom sought by the CCLA here can be characterized as an expansive one, the sticker itself may be relatively small — it fits neatly on the face of a gas tank — but that does not mean that the burden on the gasoline retailer compelled to post it can be dismissed as ‘trivial or insubstantial,’” it says. “In fact, the principle at stake is substantial when seen from the point of view of the retailer, its customers, and of a rights-based society in general.”
Fuel retailers can keep the stickers or remove them as they see fit, he concluded.
The NDP issued a statement demanding the government not appeal the decision. "He has already wasted enough of people’s money on his anti-carbon price stickers that don’t stick – a partisan and dishonest propaganda campaign," said environment critic Peter Tabuns.
"It’s heartening to see that the Ontario Super Court has determined that the Ford government's anti-carbon price stickers are, in fact, a violation of freedom of expression and are neither justified nor reasonable," he said. "That decision reflects the way so many Ontarians felt when they were forced to display the stickers against their will, subject to a fine of up to $10,000."
The Attorney General's office said it would not comment as the decision is still within the appeal period.
Rickford released a short statement that didn't spell out whether or not the government will launch an appeal.
"The federal carbon tax makes life more unaffordable and hits the wallets of Ontario families and small businesses hardest when it comes to gas prices and home-heating costs," he said. "We respect the decision of the court, but our government will always stand up for the people of Ontario when it comes to matters that make everyday life more expensive for hardworking families."

Court strikes down Ford government’s mandatory gas pump sticker law

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