By Alice McFarlane

Farm group upset with carbon tax increase announced by Ottawa

Dec 11, 2020 | 3:09 PM

The federal carbon tax will increase in the next 10 years.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a climate change plan that would see the carbon tax hit $170 a tonne by the year 2030.

At the present time, the carbon tax is $30 per tonne. It will rise by $10 in each of the next two years until 2022.

The annual increase in the carbon tax starting in 2023 will be $15 a metric tonne until it reaches $170 a tonne by 2030.

While the plan will achieve a 32 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030 there will continue to be the usual personal carbon tax rebates.

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Glasyln area farmer and Western Canadian Wheat Growers chair Daryl Fransoo said the numbers are outrageous.

“It’s going to kill agriculture in Canada and make us uncompetitive on the world market,” Fransoo said.

Agriculture is an export-oriented industry. Fransoo said the most important point is for farmers to be profitable.

“If we want to innovate and if we want to do the things they want us to do to combat climate change we have to have the money to do that kind of stuff,” Fransoo said. “Our profits are already so slim. When they take, basically, all of our profits in a carbon tax there is no way we can be profitable and thrive.”

Fransoo said increasing the carbon tax not only hurts agriculture it also hurts rural communities.

He said farmers are already doing their part using practices like no-till.

“Even at these lower levels of carbon tax we’ve highlighted farmers sequester carbon. At the worst we’re net neutral. We have to be recognized for the good we do for the environment,” he said.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF