Premier Blaine Higgs is already acknowledging he may not be able to make good on a threat to defy the federal government's carbon tax legislation by blocking its collection in New Brunswick.

The premier says he expects that legal officials will tell him that any such move would violate federal law, with potentially serious consequences for the province — and for businesses that collect and remit the money. 

"I'm not about to break the law on this, obviously, and I don't have the opinion yet but I'm not convinced that we can even do it," Higgs said.

The premier mused in weekend interviews with CBC's The House and Rosemary Barton Live that he was seeking legal advice from government lawyers.

"I've asked the question internally: are we able to do that?" he said.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has indicated interest in blocking the collection of the carbon tax in his province. (Kirk Fraser/CBC)

Last week, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said he would direct the province's power utility to stop collecting the carbon tax on other forms of home heating. 

He was reacting to Ottawa's decision to stop the collection of the tax on home heating oil — which has higher per capita use in Atlantic Canada than anywhere else — but not on other fuels more commonly used in the west.

Higgs said his idea was to go even broader and end all carbon tax collection in New Brunswick, but "I'm not optimistic that we even have the ability to do that." 

The province has no role in collecting the federal carbon tax. Companies that collect it remit it directly to Ottawa. 

"That's how it works. Unless there's legislation barring us from doing so, we have to do it," said Gilles Volpé, the New Brunswick vice-president of Liberty Gas. 

Gilles Volpé of of Liberty Gas says the company would not want to be faced with a provincial law requiring they violate a federal law. (CBC )

Volpé says Liberty agrees that the three-year pause on carbon pricing for home heating oil is unfair to people who heat with natural gas, which emits almost 40 per cent less carbon dioxide.

"Because some customers have done exactly what the carbon tax is supposed to do, which is get people to switch to a lower-emitting form of fuel, they're getting penalized now compared to those who haven't," he said.

But he said Liberty would not want to be faced with a provincial law requiring they violate a federal law. 

"I don't see how that could happen," he said. "Hopefully we wouldn't get caught in the middle."

The federal Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act includes fines of up to $40,000 and up to a year of jail time for people who do not remit carbon tax revenue to Ottawa.

The federal Liberals have been facing a wave of political backlash after announcing a three-year carbon tax exemption for heating oil. (Toby Talbot/AP)

"It is entirely appropriate, and I think an expectation shared by all Canadians, that everyone in the country should follow the law," federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said last week.

"That's our expectation, and it's our job to ensure that the law is enforced. It will be." 

Asked if he was willing to go to jail for Higgs, Volpé said, "No, I don't think any of us are." 

Higgs acknowledged that he would not "put a company in a position like that" by requiring them to violate a federal law.

In Saskatchewan, the government has discussed transferring the legal liability for violating the federal law from the provincial power utility to the government.

"I guess if it comes to that point where somebody's going to carbon jail, it likely will be me," said cabinet minister Dustin Duncan.

    In New Brunswick, the tax — 14.3 cents on a litre of regular gasoline this year — is added to the maximum wholesale price as part of the Energy and Utilities Board's price-setting formula, and is then passed on to consumers. (Kirk Fraser/CBC)

N.B. Power spokesperson Dominique Couture said the utility "has not assessed the hypothetical question and cannot assume the wording of any future legislation or directives by executive council" about carbon tax money it collects. 

Forcing the end of carbon tax collection at gas pumps is also complicated.

In New Brunswick, the tax — 14.3 cents on a litre of regular gasoline this year — is added to the maximum wholesale price as part of the Energy and Utilities Board's price-setting formula, and is then passed on to consumers.

Gasoline producers and distributors remit the money to Ottawa, not gas stations.

Higgs said that would mean removing it from the EUB formula, another potential conflict with federal law. 

University of New Brunswick law professor Nicole O'Byrne says the province can just design its own policy, it doesn't have to refuse to collect the tax. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)

University of New Brunswick law professor Nicole O'Byrne says there's no real legal avenue for New Brunswick, given the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the legality of the federal requirements. 

She pointed out Higgs insisted that First Nations gas retailers could not refuse to remit provincial taxes after he cancelled revenue-sharing agreements with band governments. 

"Anytime you have a provincial government proposing to not follow the law when they're actually legislators themselves, we're facing a very serious problem here," she said.

The premier said he hoped by raising the idea he would draw more attention to what he says is the impact of the carbon tax on the cost of living.

The Trudeau government's retreat on home heating oil just proves the point, he said. 

"All of a sudden, carbon tax collection and climate change is not such a big issue. Affordability is the bigger issue," he said.

"What I'm hoping this stirs is, let's look at what the impact of carbon collection has actually done."

O'Byrne says there is one option for Higgs but it's one he has already abandoned.

The federal system allows provinces to design their own carbon pricing systems. Quebec's is a cap-and-trade system that complies with Ottawa's requirement without taxing consumers directly.

Higgs brought in a provincial system in 2020 but he abandoned it earlier this year and let the federal system take effect in New Brunswick.

Rather than engage in sabre-rattling about going rogue, O'Byrne says, the premier could just tailor a system more to his liking, with no direct charge to consumers. 

"The province doesn't need to refuse," she said. "They can just design their own policy." 

The finance ministers are set to hold an annual meeting in December. Freeland suggested other topics could be discussed there.

The Liberals have been facing a wave of political backlash after announcing a three-year carbon tax exemption for heating oil.

Some opposition parties and premiers have said that exemption isn't fair to those who heat their homes with other fuels such as natural gas and propane.

While the exemption for home heating oil applies across the country, its effects will be felt most in Atlantic Canada.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, almost one in five households use home heating oil. Two in five Prince Edward Island households and one in three Nova Scotia households are heated with furnace oil. In New Brunswick, one in about every 14 households uses home heating oil.

Following Friday's meeting, the finance ministers of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta issued a joint statement calling for an end to the carbon tax.

"We urge the federal government to eliminate the carbon tax to ensure fairness and ease financial pressure on Canadians," the statement said.

When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the exemption last week, he said the Atlantic Liberal caucus had been calling for the change.

On Friday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford wrote an open letter to Ontario MP James Maloney, the head of the Ontario Liberal caucus, calling on him to push for further exemptions.

"It is time for you to do the same as your Atlantic colleagues and advocate for the families you are elected to represent," Ford wrote.

In a separate interview on Power & Politics, Bethlenfalvy said the carbon tax is becoming "an issue of national unity."

"You can't lean in because there's a bigger Liberal caucus in Atlantic Canada and leave the rest of Canada behind," Bethlenfalvy told Cochrane.

New Brunswick exploring options to stop collecting carbon tax

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs told CBC Radio's The House that he is now seeking a legal opinion on whether his province could stop collecting the carbon tax altogether.

"Certainly if I have the legal ability to do that, yes, I would [stop collecting the tax]," he told host Catherine Cullen in an interview airing Saturday.

New Brunswick is the second province to suggest it might not collect the carbon tax.

On Monday, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe suggested that SaskEnergy — the provincial Crown corporation responsible for natural gas distribution — would stop collecting the carbon tax in January if an exemption isn't extended to other heating fuels.

When asked on Friday, Freeland wouldn't speculate about the legal penalties provinces could face if they refuse to collect the tax.

"The federal government expects everyone in Canada to obey the law," she said.

On Tuesday, Saskatchewan's minister responsible for SaskEnergy, Dustin Duncan, said the province is preparing for any dispute with Ottawa that might come up if the province stops collecting the tax.

"All premiers would agree with this — you can't have the federal government going into a certain town or city and dumping funding and not even discussing it with the province. That's unacceptable. We call it jurisdictional creep. Obviously, they don't want to work collaboratively when they do that."

The final communique of the Council of the Federation meeting in Halifax demands that Ottawa ensure "predictable and flexible federal funding flows exclusively through provinces and territories."

Speaking to reporters before question period, Fraser said he will press ahead with a housing plan that's working.

"We have seen real progress as a result of the change in approach that we have adopted," he said. "I would hate to take a tool off the table in the middle of a crisis, particularly one that's proving its utility with the success we've had in cities across the country.

"My next move is getting more homes built in every corner of the country."

Premiers demand carbon tax reprieve

In addition to their criticism how Ottawa doles out housing funds, the premiers raised concerns about the carbon tax.

Trudeau announced last month that home heating oil would be exempt from the carbon tax for a three-year period while the federal government ramps up a program to subsidize the purchase of heat pumps, which generally run on electricity.

While the carbon tax exemption is national in scope, Atlantic Canadians will disproportionately benefit from the program because residents there are more likely to use oil to heat their homes.

That has prompted claims that the pause is unfair because other energy consumers are left paying the carbon tax.

Some premiers said the carbon tax is punitive because it imposes costs on people even when their provinces are working to reduce emissions in other ways.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said carbon pricing is not a 'silver bullet' to end climate change. (John Woods/The Canadian Press)

"The carbon tax is not the silver bullet when it comes to climate change," said Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew. He said the province has a low-carbon electricity grid and it's doing more to make it cleaner and greener.

The carbon tax exemption should be extended to people in his province, he said.

"During this inflationary period, people are suffering. In light of that, we do think there should be similar considerations given to the people of Manitoba to get us through this period of economic pain," Kinew said.

"The carbon tax is not effective. They should just get rid of it," Houston added. "There are much more efficient ways to protect the planet."

B.C. Premier David Eby said the carbon tax has worked well in his province — B.C. has had its own carbon tax in place for years — but he said he supports "fair treatment for all Canadians" on the issue. 

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, a long-time opponent of the carbon levy, reiterated his plan to instruct the provincially owned SaskEnergy to stop collecting the carbon tax on power until there's a nationwide reprieve.

"The Canadian government needs to extend fairness to all Canadian families," he said.

Trudeau has said there will be no more carve-outs to the carbon tax.