SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

John Barlow

  • Member of Parliament
  • Member of Parliament
  • Conservative
  • Foothills
  • Alberta
  • Voting Attendance: 65%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $161,345.02

  • Government Page
  • Feb/15/23 2:35:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Prime Minister, it has never been more expensive to grow or buy food. A Saskatchewan farmer told me yesterday that his carbon tax bill just to dry his grain was $2,000 in one month. The Liberal tariff on fertilizer costs eastern Canadian farmers more than $34 million. Under the Prime Minister's watch, we have lost hundreds of farms to bankruptcy, and food prices are up 12%. Will the Prime Minister help Canadians put food on the table and axe his farm-killing carbon tax?
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  • Nov/23/22 3:11:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister should read his own legislation. The farm tax rebate, through Bill C-8, gives farmers pennies on the dollar back on what they spend on the carbon tax. The result of that is Saskatchewan farmers just had the most expensive harvest in their history. Their on-farm costs exceeded $11 billion, the highest year-over-year increase since 2012. On-farm fuel has more than doubled, and the cost of fertilizer is up 110%. The carbon tax is pounding farmers to the ground and putting our food security at risk. What will it take for the Prime Minister to cancel his plan to triple the tax on food, fuel and farmers?
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  • Oct/5/22 2:42:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister realizes that they will not succeed. The biggest threat facing our farmers is the triple threat offered by the Liberals: fertilizer tariffs, higher interest rates and higher carbon taxes. This has put thousands of family farms on the brink of insolvency. Even Canadian consumers understand the threat of the triple threat, as grocery prices are up 10%, which is driving food costs even higher. Does the Prime Minister understand that by tripling the carbon tax, the end result will be no fertilizer, no farms and no food?
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  • Jun/16/22 8:17:59 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, the minister talked in his speech about the importance of fertilizer. Not only is it access to fertilizer, but I think the other issue about fertilizer is affordability. We have seen the cost of fertilizer in many parts of the country go up 100%. Canada is the only G7 country on the planet that is charging a 35% tariff on Russian fertilizer. Many times we have asked the Liberal government to exempt that tariff on fertilizer purchased before March 2. We now know that this tariff is costing Canadian farmers about $150 million a year. The minister just mentioned that the government gave $100 million to the largest mining company on the planet when they have record fertilizer revenues, not to make increased production at this fertilizer plant near Saskatoon but to ensure that it uses electric vehicles. Would he not agree that a better use of that $100 million would be to provide compensation to farmers for their own fertilizer tariff?
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  • Jun/16/22 7:20:40 p.m.
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Madam Chair, if farmers can find ways to be efficient and more cost-effective while protecting their land and improving their yields, they will do it. They use fertilizer as efficiently as possible through programs such as the 4R stewardship program. To my colleagues's question, it is critically important that, if farmers are using less fertilizer, yields will go down. It is a simple fact. When we are facing a global food crisis, that is not direction we want to go. The Liberals have also said that they want a 30% reduction in fertilizer emissions, whatever that means, but what it means is we we are asking Canadian farmers to use less fertilizer when they are doing it as efficiently as possible. In Canada, we are 70% more efficient in fertilizer use than any other country on the planet. I will say again that is a great success story for Canadian agriculture. It is something we should be embracing and not criticizing.
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  • Jun/16/22 7:15:36 p.m.
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Madam Chair, my colleague is exactly right. We now know that this is going to cost Canadian farmers about $150 million. We support sanctions against Russia. It is very important that it is held accountable for its illegal actions. However, we do not want those actions to be paid for on the backs of Canadian farmers. We have asked the Liberal government to exempt that tariff on any fertilizer from Russia that was purchased before March 2. Another alternative was, at the very least, to provide compensation to farmers. Rebate that tariff on fertilizer to Canadian farmers that was purchased before March 2. However, in both of those cases, the Liberal government has refused to step up and help Canadian farmers.
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  • Jun/7/22 1:36:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, they were going to find those new resources only because of the tariff put on Russian fertilizer by the Liberal government. Again, we are not arguing that there should not be sanctions on Russia, but they should be sanctions that actually impact Russia and its economy. This tariff is only punishing Canadian farmers. If we have realized anything through COVID, it is that we must diversify our trade agreements and be much more self-sufficient. The tariff that the Liberals put on Russian fertilizer is the only reason farmers are paying higher costs. I might add too that the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance did not even realize that Canada purchased fertilizer from Russia before putting on that tariff.
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  • Jun/2/22 2:55:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, please allow me to actually answer the question for the parliamentary secretary. The answer is zero. Canada is the only country punishing its farmers with a tariff on fertilizer. Our G7 allies are doing everything they possibly can to ensure that their farmers can increase their yields in a time of global food insecurity. Here, the Liberals are beating our farmers down with increased taxes, red tape and, without any consultation with stakeholders, a mandate to reduce fertilizer use by 30%. Knowing this, is the fertilizer tariff just another way for the Liberals to impose their activist agenda and force our farmers to use less fertilizer?
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  • Jun/2/22 2:53:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to make sure I have this right. First, the Liberals impose a tariff on fertilizer that only punishes Canadian farmers. Second, they ignore any plea for an exemption on the fertilizer purchased before March 2. Third, they are offering no compensation, meaning that higher taxes and input costs are crushing Canadian farm families. How many other G7 countries are enforcing a fertilizer tariff and putting their farmers at a competitive disadvantage?
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  • May/18/22 2:47:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I guess we now understand why the Liberals are refusing to answer questions on a fertilizer tariff. It is because they have no idea what we are talking about. In fact, stakeholders in meetings with ministers have been told that the Liberals had no idea that Canadian farmers actually purchased fertilizer from Russia. Now we are the only country in the world that has a tariff on fertilizer, and our producers are the ones who are paying the price. It is typical of the Liberals to impose a punishing policy first and then ignore the devastating results from the fallout. Will the Prime Minister exempt the 35% tariff on Russian fertilizer purchased before March 2?
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  • Apr/25/22 3:00:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadian farmers are drowning as costs on feed, fuel and fertilizer skyrocket, but instead of resolving the problems that its own bad policies actually caused, the Liberal government is doubling down. It has increased the carbon tax, it is telling farmers that it will not process their income tax returns and it has hiked fertilizer prices. For weeks we have been asking the Liberals if they will exempt the 35% tariff on fertilizer purchased from Russia before March 2. There is no answer. In a time of a global food crisis, helping Canadian farmers seems like the right decision. Why will the Liberals not make it?
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  • Apr/7/22 2:48:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, thanks to failed Liberal policies like the carbon tax and trucking mandates, Canadian farmers are facing skyrocketing input costs on fuel, feed and fertilizer. The Liberals could offer relief. Instead, they are making it worse. The NDP-Liberal carbon tax coalition increased the tax on April 1 and still refuses to clarify its position on a 35% tariff on Russian fertilizer. Canadian farmers are being asked to feed the world as a result of the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine, but to do that they need clarity and they need certainty. Once again, will the Liberals exempt the 35% tariff on fertilizer purchased from Russia before March 2?
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  • Mar/25/22 11:30:35 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a global food crisis is emerging. Canadian farmers want to help, but Liberal policies, like a farm-killing carbon tax and trucking mandates, are handcuffing Canadian farmers, who are already facing skyrocketing input costs on things like fertilizer. A 35% tariff on purchases of fertilizer from Russia is going to hurt. As we get ready for the spring planting season, farmers need certainty. Will fertilizer purchased from Russia before March 2 be exempt from this tariff, yes or no?
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