The Commons voted to pass a private bill that exempts most farming operations from the carbon tax by 176 to 145.. Ben LobbCourtesy House of Commons TV .The department of Finance estimated the carbon tax cost farmers $122 million last year..“The carbon tax is punitive even for the existence of a farm operation,” Conservative MP Ben Lobb (Huron-Bruce, ON), sponsor of the bill, said in an earlier debate..“We can help them by cutting the carbon tax and eliminating the carbon tax on farms.”.Parliament in 2018 passed the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act that exempted marked farm fuels, so-called purple gas, from carbon tax charges, according to Blacklock’s Reporter..Bill C-234 An Act to Amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act would expand exemptions to most farm operations like grain drying, barn heating and cooling, and powering equipment used “for growing crops.”.Lobb cited carbon taxes paid by one hog farmer in his Ontario riding..“The natural gas bill for his hog barn was $11,391 in total,” said Lobb..“The carbon tax was $2,918, which is 25% of the base bill. When we throw the HST on, which is almost $1,500, 34% of the bill is in carbon tax and HST. That is really the problem.”.Conservative, Bloc Québécois, New Democrat, and Green MPs passed the bill over cabinet objections. The bill “seems fair to us,” said Bloc MP Andréanne Larouche (Shefford, QC)..Three Liberals members also supported the bill, MP Kody Blois (Kings-Hants, NS), chair of the Commons Agriculture committee, MP Health MacDonald (Malpeque, PEI), and MP Robert Morrissey (Egmont, PEI), chair of the Commons Human Resources committee..New Democrat MP Alistair MacGregor (Cowichan-Malahat, BC) said farmers face “incredible costs” in addition to fuel taxes.. Farm in Canada .“This has been detailed quite considerably by the National Farmers Union, which has recognized that Canadian farm debt is now listed at over $100 billion and has nearly doubled since the year 2000,” said MacGregor..The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) in a submission last October 17 to the Commons Agriculture committee said five-figure carbon tax charges were commonplace..“Saskatchewan farmers can expect to lose 8% of their total net income to the carbon tax,” testified SARM President Raymond Orb..“For a household managing a 5,000-acre grain farm in Saskatchewan, this will take the form of $8,000 to $10,000.”.The Commons passed a similar bill C-206 in 2021 but saw it lapse in the Senate..“I have personally seen bills for the carbon tax of tens of thousands of dollars,” Conservative MP Philip Lawrence (Northumberland-Peterborough South, ON), sponsor of the original bill, told a 2021 Agriculture committee hearing..“This is having a tremendous impact on farmers across Canada.”
