It’s been said ‘you get what you give’. Except when it comes to the carbon tax, which is giving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau even more headaches.After vowing ‘no more carve outs’, Trudeau’s Liberal government is being faced with more calls for to dole out carbon tax cash.Now the government of Manitoba and agricultural groups are clamouring for Ottawa to open up the carbon tax purse and spread a little of the love the PM showered on Atlantic Canada by exempting home heating oil for the next three years — until he’s either re-elected or unceremoniously turfed to the political wilderness..Wilkinson vows no more free lunch on carbon taxes.Smith, Moe ask for natural gas carbon tax exemption.Trudeau drops carbon tax on heating oil, increases rebate for Atlantic Canadians.On Wednesday, Manitoba’s new NDP finance minister said he’s looking for “greater fairness” from the PM by extending similar carbon tax exemptions to his province — for natural gas — although Adrien Sala told CBC he wants to avoid the “posturing” of the former PC government which vowed to sue Ottawa over the carbon tax."We're seeing other provinces that are asking for some changes, and we did see that the prime minister committed to some changes in Eastern Canada," Sala said Tuesday. "That's definitely of interest to us here in Manitoba. We want to know how that might extend to greater fairness for Manitobans.”That comes after Trudeau on Tuesday told reporters: "There will absolutely not be any other carve-outs or suspensions of the price on pollution."It also comes as a private members bill pushing for exemptions for farmers who use natural gas and propane to heat their barns and greenhouses comes to a vote in the Senate..Although it passed third reading in March of 2022, C-234 to amend the greenhouse gas pollution pricing act came up for debate in the Upper Chambers on Tuesday where it will either be passed into law or die on the order paper.The bill was tabled by Conservative MP Ben Lobb, who represents the riding of Huron-Bruce in Ontario, and has the support of Mushrooms Canada and the Agriculture Carbon Alliance, among others. An average mushroom farm can pay upwards of $150,000 per year in carbon tax, while a poultry farm can shell out $500,000.As amended, the bill would only exempt grain dryers and exclude out barns, livestock buildings and greenhouses. “(Bill) C-234, in its original form, recognizes the industry’s widespread lack of viable fuel alternatives,” said ACA co—chair Dave Carey. “Adopting this amendment establishes an unjust precedent within the industry. Our farmers, ranchers and growers pay tens of thousands of dollars in carbon pricing annually, and it takes time for the needed infrastructure to be built and emerging alternative technology to be scaled up and be readily available to all farmers at a reasonable price.”
It’s been said ‘you get what you give’. Except when it comes to the carbon tax, which is giving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau even more headaches.After vowing ‘no more carve outs’, Trudeau’s Liberal government is being faced with more calls for to dole out carbon tax cash.Now the government of Manitoba and agricultural groups are clamouring for Ottawa to open up the carbon tax purse and spread a little of the love the PM showered on Atlantic Canada by exempting home heating oil for the next three years — until he’s either re-elected or unceremoniously turfed to the political wilderness..Wilkinson vows no more free lunch on carbon taxes.Smith, Moe ask for natural gas carbon tax exemption.Trudeau drops carbon tax on heating oil, increases rebate for Atlantic Canadians.On Wednesday, Manitoba’s new NDP finance minister said he’s looking for “greater fairness” from the PM by extending similar carbon tax exemptions to his province — for natural gas — although Adrien Sala told CBC he wants to avoid the “posturing” of the former PC government which vowed to sue Ottawa over the carbon tax."We're seeing other provinces that are asking for some changes, and we did see that the prime minister committed to some changes in Eastern Canada," Sala said Tuesday. "That's definitely of interest to us here in Manitoba. We want to know how that might extend to greater fairness for Manitobans.”That comes after Trudeau on Tuesday told reporters: "There will absolutely not be any other carve-outs or suspensions of the price on pollution."It also comes as a private members bill pushing for exemptions for farmers who use natural gas and propane to heat their barns and greenhouses comes to a vote in the Senate..Although it passed third reading in March of 2022, C-234 to amend the greenhouse gas pollution pricing act came up for debate in the Upper Chambers on Tuesday where it will either be passed into law or die on the order paper.The bill was tabled by Conservative MP Ben Lobb, who represents the riding of Huron-Bruce in Ontario, and has the support of Mushrooms Canada and the Agriculture Carbon Alliance, among others. An average mushroom farm can pay upwards of $150,000 per year in carbon tax, while a poultry farm can shell out $500,000.As amended, the bill would only exempt grain dryers and exclude out barns, livestock buildings and greenhouses. “(Bill) C-234, in its original form, recognizes the industry’s widespread lack of viable fuel alternatives,” said ACA co—chair Dave Carey. “Adopting this amendment establishes an unjust precedent within the industry. Our farmers, ranchers and growers pay tens of thousands of dollars in carbon pricing annually, and it takes time for the needed infrastructure to be built and emerging alternative technology to be scaled up and be readily available to all farmers at a reasonable price.”
