The House of Commons adjourned for the summer last week.
The Conservative Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Agri-Food Lianne Rood says we were able to see some good things happening for Agriculture, thanks to some Private Member Bills put forward by her Conservative colleagues.
"Bill 206 just passed the House of Commons on the last sitting day. And that was, by my colleague Phil Lawrence, to extend the existing carbon tax exemption for farmers on gasoline and fuel oils to include natural gas and propane for grain drying. So the bill is now in the Senate and we'll have to await to see what the Senate does with that bill. But that's great news, coming out of the House of Commons."
She notes another key bill for producers was Bill C 208, which helps with succession planning as it puts the sale of a farm or ranch to family members, on the same tax footing as if it was sold to someone else.
She says another key bill was from her colleague John Barlow, Bill C 205 was designed to protect farms from trespassers.
" Farms and production sites from trespassers relating to biosecurity. So, it was reported back from the Agriculture Committee to the House of Commons and is sitting at report stage right now. Now, one thing I'd like to mention about that, however, is that the NDP and Liberals voted in committee on an amendment that essentially removed most of the teeth of that bill. So we hope going forward that we can see an amendment. I believe we've seen an amendment tabled to the bill that will help bring a little bit more of the teeth back to the bill. So that it really does protect farmers, farm sites and production sites from trespassers when it relates to biosecurity."
Rood notes they have a number of concerns about Bill C12 which was put forward by the Liberals and has now moved to the Senate.
She says the bill as is will actually put farmers at risk.
"It will reduce their ability to use fertilizers from nitrogen and natural gas feedstock. So we are concerned about that bill, and conservatives did vote against that bill. Clean fuel standard regulations, of course, we see that coming through right now. And there are still some concerns that I'm hearing from canola and corn producers. We're looking for clarity on qualifying feedstock for biofuels production. So we'll have to wait and see what the government does on that."
Rood notes they're still waiting on the Federal Government and the Province's to put forward their development of the Grocery Code of Conduct and improvements to the Business Risk Management Programs.
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