44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 13, 2023 02:00PM
- Dec/13/23 2:08:44 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to welcome three farmers from my riding to Parliament Hill: Éric Lafontaine, Alexandre Bégin and Mathieu Dumont. I salute the courage of all agricultural entrepreneurs, who just experienced one of the worst years ever from a climate perspective. Abitibi West farmers lived through a crop-damaging winter freeze, historic wildfires that required livestock evacuations and a catastrophic drought.
To raise awareness among the public and elected officials about the economic and psychological impact involved, Éric, Alexandre, Mathieu and Maxime Fontaine wrote the “Red Letter”, which they will be delivering today to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. This letter was signed by 79 farm businesses in Abitibi West, many of them now forced to sell off some of their animals because of risk management programs ill-suited to climate change. We are talking about 30% of Abitibi West herds that have already been sold or that are currently for sale on the market to allow these farm businesses to survive.
I ask the minister to be generous and to commit now to ensuring the sustainability of farm businesses and of our agricultural sector.
195 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 2:39:17 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is backing off the things he is doing. Ironically, he is the one who brought in a temporary pause because his caucus was revolting regarding home heating oil.
However, my question was about the Medeiros's Carleton Mushroom Farms. The Prime Minister claims he has government programs to help farmers use more natural gas, at the same time as he is quadrupling the tax on natural gas, which is perhaps the reason why Canada ranks 58th out of 64 when it comes to climate index performance. The Prime Minister does not have a climate plan; he has a tax plan.
How will the Prime Minister advise the Medeiros farm to pay the $400,000 bill he is sending it?
124 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 2:43:30 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, ironically, it is almost free for Mexican producers. They have a tiny little carbon tax that is not even comparable to the $400,000 tax bill that the Prime Minister is proposing.
What he is saying is that there should be a price signal for Canadians to buy more expensive, polluting foreign food while we, with the fifth-biggest supply of arable land on Planet Earth, shut our farmers down. How does that make any sense?
78 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 2:44:06 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, more than just about anyone else in this country, farmers understand how important it is to protect the land for future generations and to pass on the bounty to their children and grandchildren of a great, important job that feeds the rest of us. That is why farmers are so focused on the future, and that is why we are there to support them with a plan and investments that help them reduce their emissions while they continue to put food on all our tables. We have a plan for that. The Conservatives refuse to even admit that there needs to be work done to reduce emissions. That is not the way to build a future, not in Carleton and not anywhere—
125 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 2:44:55 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister stated correctly that farmers are working hard to protect the environment, which is why it is so strange that he wants to punish them with a tax that, on one farm alone, costs $100,000 and will rise to $400,000 for the crime of using the only sources of energy that are available to that farm.
I will ask the same question I have asked the Prime Minister now about a half a dozen times: When he finally gets around to talking to Carleton Mushroom Farms' owner, how will he advise them to pay their forthcoming $400,000 carbon tax bill? Will it be by raising prices on Canadians or by cutting back and bringing in more dirty foreign food?
126 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 2:59:19 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, that is his attitude now. Do we remember when he called small businesses wealthy tax cheats? Now he accuses Carleton Mushroom Farms of being too successful, and therefore it needs to pay higher taxes.
He clearly has no idea about our food supply chain, because, of course, grains have to be dried and the fuels for drying are now taxed. Barns have to be heated. Heating those barns is now taxed. There is a common-sense Conservative bill to axe the tax on those farmers to lower the price of food.
If he does not believe that this tax costs farmers, will he sit down with the Medeiros' Carleton Mushroom Farms and inspect its bill personally?
118 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 3:00:01 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, our government reached out and will continue to reach out to a range of farmers across the country who want to reduce their emissions, who are concerned about climate change, who want to preserve our land for future generations and who understand, unlike the MAGA Conservatives, that there is no choice anymore between protecting the environment and growing the economy.
While the Conservatives want to take us back to the Stone Age, we are going to continue to invest in supporting farms, supporting businesses and supporting Canadians, while we reduce our pollution, reduce our emissions and build a stronger future for everyone.
104 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 4:36:29 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's speech and his comments recognizing the huge impact this has had on the agriculture industry, which is the backbone of my riding. So many of my agriculture producers are being challenged, whether because of a port strike in Vancouver, the restrictions, the worries about a possible port strike in Montreal and the huge costs that are being put on our farmers, which increase their costs.
As the member knows, increasing their costs and transportation costs is going to eventually increase costs to consumers. Ultimately, that is going to put more people into food banks. I wonder if the member would expand on that.
110 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 4:37:21 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I am very thankful to my colleague, who has always been a strong advocate for Canadian farmers and certainly his constituents in Saskatchewan.
This is why I find the comments of the Prime Minister today in question period so offensive. He said that farmers are not telling the truth about the cost of the carbon tax and said that 97% of their carbon taxes are covered. That is completely false.
Unlike most any other industry, Canadian farmers pay the carbon tax over and over again, from the rail lines when they transport their grain to the trucking companies when they move their cattle to the shipping companies when they are moving other commodities and buying fertilizer, fuel or feed. They pay it every single time, and those prices and increased costs are passed directly on to consumers.
139 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 4:51:39 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I always enjoy working with my colleague at the agriculture committee. We worked really hard together on the code of conduct, which I did not get a chance to talk about yet.
For the last several years, I have been a huge supporter of getting a code of conduct in place. This week, we heard that Loblaw and Walmart have no intention at this point in signing the code that is before them right now, but we have all the other retailers on board. The code of conduct is going to make it easier and better for farmers and suppliers, who generally face steep fines and fees that they have to pay just for the privilege of selling their goods on grocery store shelves. That also contributes to higher grocery prices, when farmers have to find a way to recoup the costs in the form of the fees and fines they pay to retailers for selling their goods.
I hope we can see the grocery code of conduct ratified and see all parties sign onto it to make sure we can treat our farmers and our suppliers fairly so they can continue to supply nutritious food to Canadians.
200 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 5:50:13 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, that is a very interesting question. As I was saying earlier, we have to have another look at how we support farmers and have a serious review of the insurance programs.
These programs were designed 20 or 25 years ago in a context where we had a bad year every six or seven years. These days, we have three bad years in a row and we do not know what next year will bring. The people from Abitibi that we received today talked to us about forest fires, drought, spring frost and a host of factors that we can no longer predict. He have to help them.
Before I finish, I will share a statistic. In Quebec, 44% of our farmers have another job because they do not earn enough income on the farm. That is not normal.
140 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to take part in this debate.
As we know, Bill C-234 would remove farmers' obligation to pay a price for the greenhouse gas emissions they generate when they use propane and natural gas for farming activities, including to dry grain.
The government, of course, appreciates that farming is critical to our country. Of course, we must safeguard our ability to feed our citizens and many more around the world. However, Canada already has a host of programs to support and assist farmers. For example, we have supply management systems for milk, eggs, chicken and maple products. We have insurance programs for crops, and we have trade protections. In addition, we have financing programs for farms and farm equipment, and we have laws to prevent the seizure of farming assets.
The reality is that we are facing a climate crisis and we need to act now to mitigate a more serious situation.
Unfortunately, climate change already threatens farming operations, biodiversity and the health and well-being of so many individuals in Canada and around the world. As we all know, Canada can suffer deeply from the catastrophic consequences of the climate crisis. Just in the last few months, we have had to deal with historic wildfires, floods and storms. Canada simply cannot afford to not take decisive actions to fight climate change. In 2018, damages to Canadian farms resulting from severe weather reached $2 billion, the fourth-highest cost on record. For Alberta crop farmers, we must not forget about 2019, the “harvest from hell”. The Western Producer noted then that the estimated total value of unharvested crops in Alberta, due to the severe weather events, was $778 million. Clearly, not acting on climate change now would not help our farmers at all.
Experts tell us that the best way to tackle the climate crisis is through carbon pricing. That is what we are doing here in Canada.
Putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions is a logical way to induce behavioural changes that will lead to widespread reductions in emissions. When it comes to farming, the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act contains specific provisions to support Canadian farmers. In fact, most fuel used on farms is already relieved from the fuel charge, which would otherwise apply.
Furthermore, recognizing that many farmers use natural gas and propane in their operations, the government already implemented a refundable tax credit for farmers in provinces that are subject to the fuel charge, starting for the 2021-22 fuel charge year. The three-year-long exemption proposed in Bill C-234, as amended by the Senate, would eliminate an incentive to promptly adopt clean technologies that would undoubtedly emerge during that period.
455 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 6:49:36 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I appreciate what my colleague, the parliamentary secretary, said about the impacts of climate change. I completely agree with her on that. I was a farmer for more than 40 years.
However, I want people to understand the impacts of the tax on the cost of farm production. It is increasing the very high cost for chicken farmers, for example. We know that when baby chicks arrive at the chicken coop, the heating needs to be set quite high.
We are told that it is not true that the tax has an impact. Just this past Monday, we asked the president of Metro, Mr. La Flèche, whether the price of the carbon tax and propane, among others, had direct impacts—
127 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, climate change is causing wildfires, natural disasters and other extreme weather events to become more frequent and more severe. The effects are widespread and devastating for communities across Canada. Of course, that has a price that our farmers will have to endure.
The impact of climate change on farming is terrible. We simply cannot afford not to fight the climate crisis. The Parliamentary Budget Officer agrees that the impact on a hundred dollars of groceries is significantly higher considering the impacts of climate change.
The reality is simple. Bill C-234 would delay much-needed programs while farmers should start transitioning toward greener technologies. I have seen first-hand the damage that is caused, with the loss of infrastructure and housing, specifically in indigenous communities, which are at the front lines of this. We cannot go backward. We have to keep moving forward.
145 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
