Regina Saskatchewan - Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) will no longer be exempt from multiple provincial taxes after the Senate recently passed a constitutional amendment.
 
The decision, which was made on 7 Apr 2022 may also weaken the rail company's court case against the province, according to Saskatchewan Senator Brent Cotter.
 
"They (CP) can't rely on it anymore. It has basically disappeared from the constitution. CP may have other arguments in the court case, but it can't assert that it's constitutionally protected from paying provincial taxes," Cotter said in an interview.
 
The amendment repeals Section 24 of the Saskatchewan Act retroactively to 29 Aug 1966 which means CP no longer has provincial tax exemptions.
 
The decision comes after CP took the province to court in November, arguing it doesn't have to pay $341 million in provincial taxes because of a contract that later became legislation.
 
Even though CP had still paid taxes for a century, it argued it wants to recover what it calls unconstitutional taxes going back to 2002.
 
While it's unclear what the Senate's decision means for the court case, CP said in a statement on Tuesday it will carefully review the actions taken by the House of Commons and the Senate.
 
"CP has a fiduciary duty to its shareholders to protect the company's rights. CP fulfilled its commitments under the 1881 agreement. CP has a valid legal right to uphold the bargain that was struck, and is now asking the courts to ensure that the governments honour their commitments," the company stated.
 
Justice Minister Gordon Wyant told reporters he's pleased the Senate passed the resolution.
 
He said he thinks CP's case against the government will now be weaker.
 
Jeremy Simes.