Prairie farmers say they want full transparency on what a carbon tax will really cost them.
Keystone Agricultural Producers president Dan Mazier asked the Senate agriculture committee to insist that the federal government monitor and report on the impacts of the tax and what costs are passed on.
“In particular, for the agriculture sector, we want to know if it drives down the farmers’ profits,” he said during the May 8 Senate hearing on the federal government’s Bill C-74.
“We also ask that the Senate demand a measurement of greenhouse gas reductions associated with the carbon price.”
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He said current estimates indicate that reductions in Manitoba will be slightly more than one million tonnes from 2018-22.
“Many stakeholders are unsure about whether these reductions will be realized without supplemental programming to provide incentives for reduction practices,” he said.
Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan president Todd Lewis had a similar message for the meeting, even though that province has yet to implement a tax and vows that it won’t.
“All through the formulation of the federal carbon pricing backstop, APAS has raised concerns with the direct and indirect cost impacts of carbon pricing on agricultural supply chains and requested that the federal government conduct and release a detailed cost estimate for the sector,” he said.
Lewis said the carbon pricing review for trade-exposed industries scheduled for 2020 should be done before the carbon backstop is implemented.
He said decisions are being made without all the information about risks.
Mazier said Manitoba farmers will be exempt from paying the tax on things like grain drying and space heating for barns, which will lessen the effects of the tax.
Lewis told the committee that he understands the federal agriculture department is working on costing, but the legislation to impose the tax is moving forward without those results.
“That’s why it’s so important that the estimates come first and not the tax first,” he said. “We don’t know what the intended or unintended consequences of a tax like this will do to our bottom lines.”
The federal government is moving ahead with its national framework through Bill C-74, which requires all provinces to implement some type of carbon pricing system by the end of this year. It wants the price to start at at least $10 per tonne and rise to $50 per tonne over five years.
Manitoba decided on a flat $25 per tonne carbon tax, while Saskatchewan has balked at the idea and is considering taking Ottawa to court.
Mazier said farmers recognize that everyone has to do their part but just paying another tax doesn’t necessarily help. Manitobans want to know how the government will use the money it collects, he said.
“Even in the environmental community, I would say, if this is just another tax grab, I think we’ve done a lot of work for nothing,” he said.
Mazier also expressed concern that the federal government doesn’t think Manitoba’s $25 tax is enough and told the province it would have to increase the amount.
“That’s an indication to me that they’re just looking for the carbon tax dollars,” he said. “They’re not looking to actually make a difference. That’s too bad.”
