Feds Could Tell You When to Drive If Carbon Price Law Stands, Court Told

Ontario's Legal Challenge to the Federal Carbon Tax Begins

A man fills up his truck with gas in Toronto, on April 1, 2019. The Ontario Court of Appeal will sort out a federal-provincial legal battle over carbon pricing starting April 15. The Canadian Press/Christopher Katsarov

TORONTO—The federal government will end up with the power to regulate almost every facet of life—such as when you can drive or where you can live—if its law aimed at curbing harmful greenhouse gas emissions is allowed to stand, Ontario’s top court heard Monday.

Ottawa’s climate-change law is so broad, said a lawyer for the province at the start of a four-day Appeal Court hearing, that it would give the federal government powers that would be destabilizing to Canada in the name of curbing the cumulative effects of global-warming emissions.