Section 188 Duties Moved to Environment Minister

Summary#

SI/2021-9 is an order that moves a specific set of legal responsibilities from one minister to another. It transfers the powers, duties and functions under section 188 of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act from the Minister of National Revenue to the Minister of the Environment. The order was made as P.C. 2021-170 on March 17, 2021 and published on March 31, 2021.

What it does#

• Uses the Public Service Rearrangement and Transfer of Duties Act to shift authority.
• Moves all powers, duties and functions the government has under section 188 of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act from the Minister of National Revenue to the Minister of the Environment.
• The notice itself does not describe what section 188 requires or how the transferred tasks will be carried out day-to-day.

Who's affected#

• The two federal ministers named: the Minister of National Revenue and the Minister of the Environment, and their departmental staff who manage the work covered by section 188.
• Potentially people or businesses who interact with the specific function in section 188, though the order does not say who those parties are or how they will be contacted.
• It is unclear from the notice whether any other groups or administrative processes will change.

Why it matters#

• It is an administrative re-assignment: the part of the federal carbon-pricing law covered by section 188 will now be handled by a different department.
• For anyone who needs to deal with that specific function, this could change which government office or contact they use.
• The order does not itself change the law or explain practical details, so the real-world impact depends on how the departments implement the transfer.