The fate of the federal carbon tax will be decided by the Supreme Court of Canada tomorrow as the case against it supported by several provinces will come to a head. The results will have potentially huge impacts in the Estevan area. 

Tomorrow, the supreme court will decide whether or not the federal government has the authority to impose national carbon pricing or take away authority to do so from provinces. Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Ontario all referred the law to their appeal courts. 

"Hopefully the supreme court will rule against the carbon tax," said Estevan Mayor Roy Ludwig. "As you know, it's killing us here at the coal mine and we're not alone. That carbon tax is the bane of a lot of people's existence." 

That disdain for the carbon tax, which is set to increase continually after 2022 until 2030, isn't limited to the energy sector either. Farmers have registered their complaints about the tax loudly and often, and those in the Estevan area have been no exception. 

"It's a huge millstone for the farmers as well," Ludwig said. "It definitely negatively impacts their bottom line, so absolutely the farmers, too, will be happy if we can get this struck down."

Whether the tax will be struck down or not remains to be seen. Estevan MLA Lori Carr had some confidence in the case presented by Saskatchewan and other provinces, but Ludwig, while hopeful, wasn't planning a victory parade just yet. 

"Anytime you got to court, you have to be ready to maybe not expect your way," he said. "It's an interesting situation, once you get involved with especially the supreme court which they're going to go to... It's not that we're against green energy or things being green, but there are ways to accomplish that without putting this type of burden on the average citizen."

Ludwig added that Carr having confidence helped him be "cautiously optimistic" but while he's hoping for success for Saskatchewan in the courtroom he's mentally steeling himself in case things do go the other way.