A private member’s bill to exempt on-farm propane and natural gas use bogs down under a series of procedural snags
The senator who sponsored Bill C-234 said last week the bill has become a significant issue for all Canadians, not just farmers and ranchers.
Senator David Wells from Ontario said in an interview he received thousands of emails and calls when the Senate discussed medical assistance in dying and marijuana legalization, and Bill C-234 has also generated volume.
“This has turned into one of those debates,” he said Nov. 17 of C-234.
“This has gotten much bigger than I thought it would when I first took on the bill. I’ve heard from a lot of Canadians who this has a direct effect on.”
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Many Canadians likely hadn’t paid attention to the bill to amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act until it got bogged down by process earlier this month.
C-234 is a private member’s bill that would remove farm propane and natural gas used to dry grain or heat and cool barns from carbon pricing. It received all-party support in the House of Commons and from the agriculture committees in both chambers.
But during third reading in the Senate Nov. 9, an amendment similar to one that had already been rejected twice was introduced, followed by a sudden motion to adjourn. Both came from members of the Independent Senators Group, which are generally Liberal-leaning.
That led to an outcry from farmers, farm organizations and premiers who want the bill passed as soon as possible.
Add into the conversation Ottawa’s decision to remove the carbon tax from home heating fuel in Atlantic Canada but not elsewhere, and its position that there will be no further carve-outs of the tax, and the debate blew up.
Five premiers spoke out in favour of passing the bill as soon as possible.
Alberta premier Danielle Smith said farmers are struggling to deal with the impact of the tax and consumers are feeling the pain of high food prices.
“I am specifically concerned that there are efforts underway to delay or substantially rewrite the bill in a way that will dampen the relief it will bring,” she said.
“This lifeline to our farmers and regular Canadians should be passed in its original form and without delay.”
In Saskatchewan, premier Scott Moe has long said the carbon tax should be removed from everything for everyone. But since that appears unlikely, his letter to the Senate said the federal government should at least reduce the negative impact of it during a cost-of-living crisis. Removing the tax would reduce the cost of food production, he said.
“It is unacceptable that the Senate would stand in the way of providing Canadians with a break on grocery costs by blocking this carbon tax exemption, which has been approved by the House of Commons,” he wrote.
Later, his government introduced a bill to withhold the carbon tax on natural gas in response to Ottawa’s decision in the Atlantic provinces.
Ontario’s Doug Ford said the delay is costing people money.
“By passing Bill C-234 into law without delay you will be taking meaningful action to help the families and businesses that need it most,” he said.
Wells said he isn’t sure how much impact the premiers have when it comes to a Senate vote but he thinks senators should consider what the people they represent want.
“If I were a prairie senator, I would think long and hard about the support or lack of support I would have from my constituents in the province,” he said, even though senators aren’t elected.
Farmers and farm organizations spent last week rallying senators to be in the chamber on Nov. 21 when debate on the amendment was to resume. That was after Western Producer print deadlines.
There were reports of rallies on Parliament Hill scheduled for that day as well. Wells said he wasn’t an organizer and had only heard of those plans.
He couldn’t say what would happen because some senators were using process as a tool to stop or delay C-234. There can be sub-amendments that delay the vote even further.
“Will a vote come? Maybe,” he said.
Dave Carey said the Agriculture Carbon Alliance would launch a new campaign encouraging farmers to call their senators or send emails and some of its members had lobby days planned.
