Ontario's reversal of its own emissions targets is an 11th-hour attempt to avoid responsibility for a toothless climate plan. The young activists behind the landmark case reported on Wednesday have vowed to continue their decades-long legal saga.
Lawyers for the seven young people were expected to argue next week that the government's weakened 2018 emissions target has no scientific basis and therefore falls short of the cuts needed to limit severe climate impacts, putting their constitutional rights at risk.
Instead, Monday's hearing has been canceled and lawyers will discuss how the province's recent move to scrap legislation underlying its emissions targets and climate plans could change that.
Shaelyn Wabegijig said the development of the situation has only strengthened her resolve to continue the fight.
“We deserve a government that acknowledges the truth about the climate crisis, not one that runs from it. We deserve a safe and livable future, and we will continue this fight until we get it,” Wabegijig, 28, said.
Premier Doug Ford's government voted this week to repeal part of the law requiring it to set emissions targets and regularly update its climate plan. The proposal came to light earlier this month when it was revealed at the end of the government's autumn economic statement.
A statement from the Prime Minister's Office said the government is “taking a hard look at the unnecessary processes that are holding us back” given recent economic uncertainty and US tariffs.
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The young people's lawyers say the government is undermining its own climate legislation as it tries to avoid scrutiny following recent failures in a decades-old case.
Ontario tried but failed to get the case heard in the Supreme Court of Canada earlier this year after the youths' case was reinstated in Ontario's highest court.
The Ontario Court of Appeal last year found that the 2018 legislation introduced by the Ford government included a voluntary commitment by the government to combat climate change and said it must do so in accordance with the Charter.
Key sections of that law are now on the chopping block, days before new hearings in the case were due to begin on Monday.
“We are confident that Ontarians and people across the country will see the cynical tactics of this government,” said Nader Hasan, the youths' lawyer.
Shortly after taking office in 2018, the Ford government ended the province's cap-and-trade system and revised its emissions targets downward. The Progressive Conservatives' goal of achieving emissions levels 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 replaced the Liberal-era goal of 37 percent below 1990 levels.
The young people challenged Ontario's constitutional plan and also presented evidence that the revised target could allow for an additional 30 megatonnes of CO2 emissions, equivalent to about seven million additional gasoline-powered vehicles on the road, each year from 2018 to 2030.
It was the first case heard in Canada to consider whether the government's approach to climate change could potentially violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Ontario Superior Court agreed that the gap between how much emissions need to be cut globally and what the province's plan calls for is “large, inexplicable and without apparent scientific justification.” However, the judge initially dismissed the complaint but was ordered to reconsider the case in light of last year's appeal court decision.
In the six years since the application was submitted, the effects of climate change have only become more pronounced, Wabegijig said. From her home in North Bay, she spoke about how wood-eating beetle species are spreading north, opening up new habitats and threatening to destroy the trees her Indigenous people use for basket weaving.
Increased flooding and wildfires have also been felt particularly hard in Indigenous communities, which have accounted for an estimated 42 per cent of wildfire evacuations in recent decades despite making up five per cent of Canada's population.
“It affects everything. Our ability to exercise our rights and live our culture and just our way of life,” said Wabegijig, who grew up on the Ramah First Nation.
Madison Dyke said since she applied, she's watched how climate change has changed the winters around her home near Thunder Bay. Average winter temperatures in Canada are now almost four degrees higher than they were in the mid-20th century.
As her hockey gear aired behind her, she talked about how warmer winters threaten the future of outdoor hockey.
“There were a few winters where we just couldn’t play outside, and that was really frustrating,” she said.
“Playing on an outdoor rink by the lake was probably something I took for granted.”
© 2025 The Canadian Press
