The premiers of Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta are urging the Senate to pass a bill that would see fuels for grain drying and barn and greenhouse heating exempted from the carbon price.
“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,” said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in a letter sent to Senators Nov. 15.
When the Senate last sat on Nov. 9, Senators debated Bill C-234, an Act to amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act. The bill awaits its third reading, but Senators voted to adjourn debate until the next sitting.
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The bill has been winding its way through the senate since March, and was first read in the House of Commons in February of 2022.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford wrote to Ontario Senators urging them to expedite the passage of the bill.
“The Senate has delayed this bill and continues to put off a final vote until at least the end of this month,” he said in the letter, dated Nov. 15.
“Canadians cannot afford to wait any longer,” he added. “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.”
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe sent a similar letter on Nov. 14, in which he said that most Saskatchewan residents think the federal government “should remove the carbon tax on everything for everyone.”
“As that is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future,” said Moe, the federal government should take steps to reduce its impact on families, including passing Bill C-234, he said.
Some farm groups hoped the bill would be passed in time for harvest this year. Ag groups have argued that farmers should not pay the price on carbon because they don’t have viable alternatives to propane and natural gas-fueled grain dryers, and few alternatives to heating with those fuels.
Earlier this month, the Senate’s committee for agriculture and forestry amended the bill to remove barn and greenhouse heating, but those amendments were voted down in the Senate chamber.
The Senate’s next fixed sitting day is Nov. 21, though Nov. 20 is a possible sitting day according to the Senate’s website.
—Geralyn Wichers is Associate Digital Editor with Glacier Farmmedia. She writes from Steinbach.
Updated. Nov. 16 to add comments from Premier Scott Moe.
