The federal Conservatives are shocked by the government's response to reveal the true cost of the carbon tax for agriculture.
Agriculture Critic John Barlow says they put a formal request in through Parliament's "Order Paper Question" which means the government has to reveal any work or data collected on the topic.
“We finally got the response back last week," said Barlow. "The response was that the details and those documents are secret and the government is not going to allow farmers to see the actual data on what impact the carbon tax has on agriculture.”
Barlow notes from what they're hearing from producers their costs range from $3,000 to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
They’ve also heard from CN and CP that their costs are going up from $17 million this year to $25 million next year.
“I have a grain operation here in the southern part of my riding that can no longer compete on the global market and lost a $2 million contract to Qatar because as a result of the carbon tax. His prices were uncompetitive on the global market. So that's why this information is so critical is to see exactly through the supply chain, what the impact has been and what it is costing our producers here domestically but also on the global market.”
Barlow says he's disgusted by the government's response, adding they need to be held accountable and is encouraging producers to demand clarity.
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