Farmers from across Western Canada are demanding senators pass Bill C-234 right away.
That bill would give them an exemption from the carbon tax on the fuels they use to dry grain and heat their barns.
But the problem is they need the bill to be passed by the end of the month.
“On our farm we use propane to dry grain. Virtually every fall we have to dry some grain,” said Bill Prybylski with the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS).
“Since the carbon taxes been increasing over the years it would be significant cost to higher production.”
As farming season persists, farmers are voicing concerns about the added cost of having to pay the carbon tax when they heat their barns and dry their grain.
“They (are) paying upward of $2,500 a month just in carbon tax to heat … that is a huge expense here month over month,” said Ian Boxall, APAS. “This is just something I hope they understand not only for the agriculture but also for the economy.”
Famers in Saskatchewan pay an estimated $40 million in carbon tax to ship grains to port, usually by rail, and say the added burden of paying it on heating and drying is too much.
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“It’s just going to improve our bottom line if we end up having to dry a significant portion of our crop this fall with,” said Prybyski. “If we’re having to pay the carbon tax … we have no way of recovering that and no alternative source of fuel to run our grain dryer.”
Bill C-234 passed in the House of Commons back in March but now it’s stalled in the second reading in the Senate.
That’s why farmers are now urging senators to pass the bill before the session is over at the end of the month.
“This is something we have lobbied for years … and in the senate now and if they don’t send it (to) committee this week, there is a chance we would not get (it) passed in this sitting to have it in place for this coming fall,” said Boxall.
They are saying that if Bill C- 234 is passed, it will take an unbearable burden off farmers. The Liberal chair of the Federal Agriculture committee called on senators to pass the bill without further delay.
Saskatchewan senator Denise Batters says the entire Conservative caucus in the Senate strongly supports the bill.
“I strongly support this bill, and I have spoken in favour of the need for it many times, in the Senate Chamber (in speeches and in Question Period), and on social media,” stated Batters in a statement.
“I recognize how important this bill is to farmers in my province of Saskatchewan and throughout Canada.
— with files from Victoria Idowu