An unlikely alliance has come to the aid of Canadian Farmers, with the 3 opposition parties standing up against the Federal Carbon Tax on natural gas and propane for on-farm essential use. All but 3 Liberal MP’s voted against the tax relief bill including Canada’s Minister of Agriculture.
The Member’s of Parliament argue that they have heard from farmers who say they “cannot sow seeds in a Tesla” and therefore they have no choice but to use fuels to operate the equipment that feeds Canadians. MP’s shared that they have heard heartbreaking stories from Farmer’s, some who’s farm’s date back centuries, who tell their children to choose other fields of employment as the constant attacks make their industry unrealistic. They note that Farmer’s must already sow and fertilize extremely carefully as this affects their bottom line, as well as their future efforts, and the environment they live in.
Bill C-234 was sponsored by Conservative MP Ben Lobb and mirrors C-206 which was originally tabled then scrapped before the 2019 election. Liberals have argued that the expense is a very small amount of overall operating costs. Farmer’s have responded that the tax will cost them $30,000 in tax on grain drying alone. One Farmer asked, “what does the Prime Minister want me to do? Use Coal? Or quit farming?”
Small businesses have said that the minimum threshold of $25,000 to qualify makes it unfortunate that the bill does not go far enough to help small producers, but they agree that some empathy for farmer’s is nice to see in a time of record inflation.
Some critics of the bill wonder why Farmer’s should be exempt:
Unfortunately this angle fails to acknowledge that if Canadian Farm’s close we would be forced to ship in food from farther away, and perhaps from areas with less stringent environmental standards than we enjoy here in Canada.
The bill went through its first reading in the Senate today, and it will still need to pass 2 more readings.
More to come.
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