Carbon-tax exemption for farm heating survives Senate vote

Nov 08, 2023

A private member’s bill promising carbon tax relief for Canada’s farmers cleared a major obstacle in the Senate on Tuesday.

In a late afternoon vote, senators overwhelmingly rejected a controversial amendment to Bill C-234, a private member’s bill. The bill would amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act to exempt propane and natural gas from the carbon tax if it is used to dry grain or climate control in barns and livestock buildings.

The amendment, introduced during Senate committee consideration, would have removed all uses except grain drying from the bill, a move that angered the agriculture industry, which says carbon taxes are already driving up their costs.

“This is an example of where legislative government is working, that we can still work under a minority government and have some of these bills pass,” said Mushrooms Canada CEO Ryan Koeslag — one of the many agricultural organizations advocating for the bill to pass amendment-free.

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Video: Why Invest in Canada’s Seed Future? | On The Brink: Episode 3

Darcy Unger just invested millions to build a brand-new seed plant on his farm in Stonewall, Manitoba so when it’s time for his sons to take over, they have the tools they need to succeed.

Right now, 95% of the genetics they’ll be growing come from Canadian plant breeders.

That number matters.

When fusarium hit Western Canada in the late 90s, it was Canadian breeders who responded, because they understood Canadian conditions. That ability to react quickly to what’s happening on Canadian farms is exactly what’s at risk when breeding programs lose funding.

For farmers like Darcy, who have made generational investments based on the assumption that better genetics will keep coming, the stakes are direct and personal.

We’re on the brink of decisions that will shape our agricultural future for not only our generation, but also the ones to come.

What direction will we choose?

On The Brink is a year-long video series traveling across Canada to meet the researchers, breeders, farmers, seed companies, and policymakers shaping the future of Canadian plant breeding. Each week, a new story. Each story, a piece of the bigger picture.

Episode 3 is above. Follow Seed World Canada to catch every episode, and tell us: Do you think the next generation will have the tools they need to success when they takeover? How is the future going to look?