By Josh Hall | @Vancan19 (rdnewsNOW)

Central Alberta farmer, Chamber of Commerce bemoan Senate foot-dragging on Bill C-234

Nov 23, 2023 | 10:06 PM

The Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce is echoing a national call for the Canadian Senate to get on with passing a Conservative bill that would give farmers crucial financial relief.

Bill C-234: An Act to Amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, would expand the definition of eligible farming machinery and extend the exemption for qualifying farming fuel to marketable natural gas and propane.

In other words, farmers would not have to pay the federal carbon tax in order to use their grain dryers, saving them an estimated $1 billion over the next 10 years, according to the bill’s sponsor, Ontario MP Ben Lobb.

C-234 was passed by the House of Commons, mainly with the support of the NDP and Bloc Quebecois, in March this year. Three Liberals, all from the Maritimes, were part of the 176 overall who were in favour. One independent and 145 Liberal MPs voted against it.

It now awaits third reading by the Senate.

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“The Red Deer Chamber of Commerce supports the letter to the members of the Canadian Senate from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce requesting swift passage of Bill C-234. Alberta is a major contributor to the economic viability of Canada’s agricultural industry, specifically our beef and crop farming operations,” says Scott Robinson, CEO. “The Red Deer area is home to a significant number of producers and this legislation helps to support them with the increasing costs of production that the industry is currently facing. Supporting farmers in our region and across Canada with this tax exemption will benefit everyone by helping to fight rising food prices.”

The Red Deer Chamber has 17 agricultural members, and co-hosts the annual Agri-Trade expo, generating $300 million in equipment sales and tourism spending, it notes.

In the letter from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, it’s noted that the agri-food sector contributes over $130 billion to the national GDP each year, and supports the jobs of about one-in-nine Canadians.

“In the face of unprecedented disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the invasion of Ukraine, and now decades-high inflation and rising input costs, Canadian farmers have been working hard to produce quality, affordable food to feed Canadians and the world,” say Robin Guy, VP, Government Relations, and Liam MacDonald, Policy Advisor.

“Furthermore, no sector better understands the need to be responsible stewards of our environment than our agri-food industry. Indeed, Canada’s agri-food industry ranks as one of the most sustainable in the world, and for decades, Canadian farmers have been leading the fight on climate change by voluntarily adopting beneficial management practices to mitigate GHG emissions.”

The organization says the carbon tax punishes farmers for practices they’re unable to change.

Such is true for Wade McAllister, owner of Antler Valley Farm, south of Red Deer, who says the buck gets passed down until it stops at farmers.

“Even in a year like this when it was bone dry, one of the worst droughts in several years, we still run the grain dryer because we get rain off the mountains and high humidity days,” says McAllister, a former director with Alberta Barley.

“We have to get this crop off in a very short window before it snows, and unless you go out with three or four massive combines, which by the way are worth about $750,000, you need a grain dryer. It’s an excellent tool that almost every farm has added in the last five years.”

McAllister’s runs on natural gas, which is cheaper, he points out, than the propane most Saskatchewan farmers have to use.

Looking at receipts from this year and ones previous, he estimates having paid thousands of dollars just because of the carbon tax, which he has strong doubts is really doing any good.

“As a farm, when we’re paying the carbon tax to dry our grain, which we have zero option but to do, the extra cost ends with us. Be it a trucking company or anybody else, they can pass it down to the next in line, whereas as a farmer, when we sell our product to the elevator, we can’t say we need another five cents a bushel because we had to pay the carbon tax. They’re not going to pay that,” he says.

“I don’t want to fire the dryer up unless I absolutely have to, and it really is only on about two weeks out of the year. But some of these bills, about 33 per cent of their totals are just the carbon tax.”

This week, Red Deer-Lacombe MP Blaine Calkins, took to Facebook to post about the status of Bill C-234.

“By attempting to block a lifeline bill for farmers clinging to their failing carbon tax policy, Trudeau-appointed Senators are playing unprecedented political games, impacting Canadian farmers and your wallets,” Calkins wrote.

Red Deer-Mountain View MP Earl Dreeshen hasn’t made recent remarks on the bill, but in April this year called it, “welcome news.”

To Calkins’s point, 65 of the Senate’s 105 members were appointed on the advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce says while it recognizes the important role of “sober second thought” as it relates to passing legislation, it is concerned about recent efforts to delay the bill.

“It was passed by a wide margin in the House of Commons – and by MPs from all parties,” add Guy and MacDonald. “We therefore urge the Senate of Canada to swiftly adopt Bill C-234 – without amendments – and give Canadian farmers and consumers the relief they urgently need.”

The House vote on third reading in March was 176-146, but even so, some senators appointed under Trudeau have been accused of using delay tactics to stall the hotly contested bill.

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