An MP wanted answers about why tariffs remain on Russian fertilizer
MPs demanded answers about the carbon tax and Russian fertilizer during question periods last week.
On Oct. 1, John Barlow, the Alberta Conservative MP for Foothills and the party’s agriculture critic, wanted to know why the government continues to apply carbon taxes to farmers.
Prime Minister Carney eliminated the consumer carbon tax in April , but the industrial levy remains and is on pace to reach $170 per tonne by 2030.
“Why is the Prime Minister pulling a bait and switch and taxing farmers and the food Canadians rely on?” Barlow asked.
Tim Hodgson, the minister of energy and natural resources, provided the response.
The carbon price is necessary in today’s global economy and helps Canada invest in large projects, he said.
Carbon pricing “is essential to our credibility as a responsible energy supplier and is key to gaining market access as we diversify our exports,” he told the House. “It is driving over $57 billion in investment, enabling carbon capture projects like the Pathways project and reinforcing Canada's leadership as a low-emission LNG producer. This is the right thing to do.”
Barlow followed up asking if the government would consider a Conservative motion to remove taxes from farmers.
Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu responded by listing initiatives the Conservatives have voted against.
On Oct. 3, a Conservative MP wanted answers about tariffs on Russian fertilizer.
The federal government placed a 35 per cent tariff on Russian fertilizer in March 2022 as part of sanctions related to Russian’s invasion of Ukraine.
But the tariffs haven’t resulted in lower Russian exports or a price decline.
“In Canada, no meaningful displacement of Russian imports with domestic production has taken place, so the result is that eastern Canadian farmers pay more for imports from third countries, creating a shortage in their markets, which is then filled by a full-priced product from Russia,” Scott Reid, the Conservative MP for Lanark-Frontenac, told the House.
Transport Minister Steve MacKinnon answered for the government.
Options are limited for Canadian farmers, he said.
“The member should well know that the only realistic fertilizer option for Canada is Russian or Belarusian fertilizer,” he said.
Gord Johns, the B.C. NDP MP for Courtenay-Alberni, asked about saving seeds.
He wanted to know if Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald “supports the right of Canada’s fruit and vegetable farmers to continue saving and using their own seeds, and will be abandon these reckless and harmful changes?”
The government’s proposed changes say fruit, vegetable, and ornamental varieties “should not be included within the scope of the farmers’ privilege exemption because it is not, or no longer is, a customary practice to save and reuse seeds of these varieties.”
Canadians have until Oct. 18 to provide comment about the potential changes.
In response to Johns’s question, Sophie Chatel, the parliamentary secretary to Minister MacDonald, told the House the CFIA is engaging with stakeholders to modernize the regulatory system.