Ontario First Nations leaders say federal government's carbon tax is discriminatory

Ontario First Nations leaders are asking the Federal Court to exempt their communities from the federal carbon tax, a policy they call grossly unfair and discriminatory.

The Chiefs of Ontario, which represents more than 130 First Nations in the province, filed for a judicial review on Thursday jointly with Attawapiskat First Nation, a remote Cree community located on the northwestern shores of the James Bay Coast.

The First Nations argue that the imposition of the price on carbon is leaving their communities worse off than others in Canada and breaching the principles of reconciliation. 

"People feel that their rights are being violated," said Abram Benedict, Grand Chief for the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, a Haudenosaunee community located on the Canada-U.S. border about 120 kilometres west of Montreal.

The Ontario First Nations' leadership argues Ottawa's carbon pricing was not designed with their communities in mind. 

The chiefs want the federal government to redevelop the policy with their communities by either exempting First Nations people from the price on carbon or allowing them to recoup all of the costs associated with the system.

Many First Nations members can't benefit from rebates delivered under the pricing mechanism because the payments are linked to income taxes, which aren't collected from individuals working on reserves.

The chiefs also take issue with requiring their members to fill out forms with the Canada Revenue Agency to acquire rebates, which they say is challenging for communities where internet access is limited.

The leadership also argues the price on carbon places a burden on their constitutionally protected rights to hunt, harvest and fish on their traditional territories, as a result of the added fuel costs for all-terrain vehicles, trucks, boats and snowmobiles. 

"A tax system that enables the colonizer government to remain viable in Canada is not something that the citizens of the Indigenous Nations greatly harmed by colonialism should be required to use, as that is an affront to dignity," the court filing states. 

Benedict told CBC News the chiefs would not have turned to the courts if Ottawa had chosen to negotiate with First Nations and find a solution. 

Last January, the Chiefs of Ontario issued an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling the carbon tax "a grossly unfair burden on First Nations" and requesting an exemption from applying it to fuel. 

"Believe me, this is the last course of action that we wanted to take," said Benedict, who is the environment portfolio holder for the Ontario chiefs organization.  

The legal action threatens to further erode the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, one of the federal government's signature tools to address climate change.