No sympathy from PM for carbon-tax burden imposed on Eastern Ontario mushroom farm, tomato grower

OTTAWA — An Eastern Ontario mushroom farm that pays over $100,000 annually in federal carbon tax — a cost slated to quadruple by 2030 — got little sympathy from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a House of Commons exchange in December.

Trudeau (LIB — Papineau) ultimately dismissed the carbon-tax burden on the natural gas bills of Carleton Mushrooms located in the riding of Official Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre (CON — Carleton).

Trudeau hinted at the “multi-million-dollar” farm’s presumed wealth  — also describing the Medeiros family operation as  “successful” or “very successful” several times — before finally arguing that the farm’s higher-than-average carbon-tax charge only proved that it must change its ways. Ignored by the PM was Poilievre’s point that the farm had no option but to use natural gas and must compete with American producers who are not charged a carbon tax, during the Dec. 13 Question Period back-and-forth.

Saying the average Canadian farm pays less than $1,000 on natural gas emissions, Trudeau tsk-tsked: “Therefore, one can only imagine how much natural gas this successful mushroom farm must be using for their cost … to be that large.

“We will happily work with the farmer to switch toward a lower-emitting approach to doing their business well and protecting future generations,” he intoned at the conclusion of the exchange.

While Trudeau’s use of the term “multi-million-dollar” sounded like an attempt at drawing a class distinction between farms, the average Canadian farm is, in fact, a multi-million-dollar operation with a projected net worth of $3.8 million in 2022, according to Statistics Canada.