Senate Rejects Amendment; Bill C-234 Set for Final Reading

A proposed amendment that would have significantly altered Bill-234 was rejected by the Senate in a vote late Tuesday, clearing the way for the Bill’s third and final reading later this week. 

As originally intended, the Bill was to exempt farmers from paying the carbon tax on fuels used to dry grain and heat barns. However, the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry put forward an amendment that would have dropped the exemption for the heating of barns. Had the change been accepted in the Senate vote, the Bill would have been forced back to the House of Commons and delayed indefinitely – much to the chagrin of Canadian farmers who desperately want the financial break it will provide their operations. 

The proposed amendment was easily defeated in the vote, with the Senate’s third and final reading of the Bill likely to come as early as Wednesday or Thursday. The Bill will then be given Royal Assent. 

“The rejected amendment would have denied financial relief to tens of thousands of hardworking livestock, greenhouse growers, and farmers, placing undue pressure on their livelihoods and our food security,” Kyle Larkin, Executive Director of Grain Growers of Canada, said in a statement. 

The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) also criticized the amendment, contending it would create a double standard by which some producers would get the exemption while others would not. 

“The amendment suggests that some farms are less important in our industry, in their contribution to our food security, and in helping to address rising food prices. No farm should be left behind,” said APAS President Ian Boxall. 

Meanwhile, Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) said the relief Bill C-234 will bring to farmers is needed as quickly as possible. GFO has been asking for an exemption on fuel used to dry grain for over five years. In those years, the price of carbon has continued to increase. It is currently at $65/tonne and will go up to $170/tonne by 2030.  

“Bill C-234 would provide a much-needed exemption for grain farmers who have no alternatives to dry their grain,” GFO said in a statement. “Farmers are in their fields right now harvesting corn and they will need to be able to reasonably dry the corn to have it be viable for food and other products.” 

A 2021 study by Agri-food Economic Systems found the explicit cost burden of the carbon tax on barn heating, grain drying, and greenhouse segments in Ontario alone to be approximately $31.3 million per year. Without the exemption, the cost would grow to just over $156 million per year by 2030, the same study revealed.