By Canadian Press

Ontario asks Canada’s highest court to hear youth-led climate case

Dec 23, 2024 | 8:16 AM

TORONTO — Ontario is asking the Supreme Court of Canada to urgently decide whether it will hear a historic youth-led challenge of the province’s climate plan.

It’s the first case to be tried in Canada that considers whether a government’s climate plan can violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In their application to the Supreme Court, lawyers for Ontario say it’s an “excellent opportunity” for the top court to clarify the constitutional obligations of governments to fight climate change.

Seven young people allege the government’s weakened emissions target violated their right to life by committing the province to dangerously high levels of planet-warming emissions and discriminated against them as the youth who will bear the brunt of the impacts.

While their case was initially unsuccessful, the young people secured a victory on appeal in October when Ontario’s highest court sent the case back to a lower court for a new hearing and left open the possibility the constitutional challenge may prevail.

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Lawyer Fraser Thomson, who works with environmental law charity Ecojustice and represents the young people, says Ontario’s application “opens the door to a generation-defining hearing before Canada’s highest court.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 23, 2024.

Jordan Omstead, The Canadian Press