Ontario’s agriculture minister, farm groups call for pause on carbon tax hike

Ontario’s agriculture minister, farm groups call for pause on carbon tax hike

Ontario’s farm organizations and its agriculture minister are urging the federal government to pause the upcoming hike to the carbon tax, set to increase by 23 per cent on April 1. In a March 28 letter addressed to Lawrence MacAuley, federal agriculture minister and Steven Guilbeault, federal minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Ontario […] Read more

A university researcher tells MPs he can’t correlate the carbon tax to rising food retail prices, but he is concerned about its cumulative effect.

Remove carbon tax throughout food chain, says professor

University researcher tells House agriculture committee that Canada’s food security could be at risk if it isn’t competitive

Glacier FarmMedia – The head of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University says the carbon tax should be removed from all players in the food chain. Sylvain Charlebois told the standing agriculture committee that he had recommended the same thing earlier, during testimony at the finance committee. He said the tax should be paused […] Read more


Parliament Hill, in Ottawa – Ontario, Canada. Photo: Ulysse Pixel

Carbon exemption amendments costly to farmers: PBO

Financial analysis finds carbon tax relief will be significantly lower after changes

Amendments to Bill C-234 will cost Canadian farmers nearly $90 million a year, according to a report by the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) released February 13.


Parliament Hill, in Ottawa – Ontario, Canada. Photo: Ulysse Pixel

Motion to squash Bill C-234 amendments put to MPs 

Pass the bill as-is now, or risk passing nothing at all says Bloc 

Bill C-234, which would amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Price Act, was once again the subject of debate as Parliament resumed today. Conservative MP Ben Lobb tabled a motion to essentially reject the Senate’s amendments to the bill.

File photo of a desk in Canada’s Senate. (Dougall_Photography/iStock/Getty Images)

Twice-amended Bill C-234 clears Senate

The bill will return to the House of Commons for further debate

A bill to exempt fuel for grain drying from the price on carbon has cleared the Senate and returns to the House of Commons with two amendments.

File photo of steam rising from the top of a grain dryer. (Diane Kuhl/iStock/Getty Images)

Senate votes to shorten sunset clause on beleaguered Bill C-234

NFU calls for bill to be passed, feds to incentivize clean heating technology for farm buildings

Senators voted by a 44-40 margin yesterday to shorten the sunset clause on carbon price exemption bill C-234. Senator Yuen Pau Woo introduced the amendment on Dec. 7, saying it would align it with the deadline on the Liberal government’s heating oil carbon price exemption.



Photo: daoleduc/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Senate speaker rules members bullied other senators over Bill C-234

Senators threatened retaliation if colleagues didn't "give way", attempted to constrain them in their duties, says speaker

Hot-tempered Conservative senators' actions over lightning rod Bill C-234 constituted intimidation, the Senate speaker ruled yesterday. "Senators have explained how they felt threatened and intimidated in the performance of their duties, here where we should model the best behaviour for our fellow citizens," said speaker Raymonde Gagné in her decision yesterday.