Saskatchewan NDP leader Ryan Meili has called on the federal government to rebate the carbon tax farmers are paying to dry their grain.
Meili has written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ask for a rebate as quickly as possible, and he asked Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe to co-sign.
“(The carbon tax is) amounting to hundreds of dollars in added bills and added hardship to farmers,” Meili said during Question Period in the Saskatchewan legislature Nov. 6. “My question to the premier: will he join me in that call and ask for that rebate to happen this fall?
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Moe agreed with Meili that it has been a challenging harvest.
“We have had tough conditions,” he told reporters. “We’re drying most if not all of the grain across the province. Even without a carbon tax that would be a challenging year.”
Some producers have used social media to post photographs of their utility bills indicating charges of several thousand dollars in carbon tax.
Moe said he personally had heard of 10 that were $1,000 or more.
But he stopped short of agreeing to sign Meili’s letter.
He said he had written letters asking for the removal of the carbon tax for all Saskatchewan residents, not just farmers drying grain.
“We are waiting to have a meeting with the prime minister,” he said.
Moe also said Trudeau doesn’t understand that a farmer is drying grain using the latest technology and the cleanest fuel to keep emissions to a minimum and is still being taxed.
He suggested Meili take up the issue with the federal NDP leader, Jagmeet Singh, who is in favour of a carbon tax.
“In some ways I’m actually pleased that Mr. Meili now has flip-flopped his position,” the premier said. “He’s come around after three years to the position of the government of this province that a carbon tax isn’t effective (and) it shouldn’t be charged on anyone.”
Meili said Moe bears the blame for not protecting farmers by implementing a plan before Ottawa could impose its federal backstop.
“The premier’s approach has been to point fingers, not to actually engage and do the work to find solutions that put Saskatchewan people first,” Meili said. “That’s failed leadership from a premier who is letting people down.”
Meanwhile, Moe acknowledged the poor relationship between Ottawa and Regina and seemed to suggest it could be repaired, even though there is no Liberal representation in the new minority federal government from the province.
“Myself and the prime minister need to work together to repair the relationship and to change our direction with respect to where that relationship has been over the last four years,” he said. “Much of this onus is on the prime minister. He needs to look at the policies that have resulted in the current situation.”
