The Executive Director of the Canadian Pork Council is urging members of the Senate to approve a new bill which will provide additional exemptions to farmers from Canada's carbon pricing scheme "as is" as quickly as possible.
Bill C-234, a private member's bill that will create specific exemptions for farmers to Canada's carbon pricing scheme, has been passed in the House of Commons and is now awaiting Senate approval.
Canadian Pork Council Executive Director Stephen Heckbert says the CPC felt it was important to support this legislation and was part of the lobbying effort to move these changes forward.
Quote-Stephen Heckbert-Canadian Pork Council:
I think it's important for farmers that we got some relief from carbon pricing.Obviously, it's not through the Senate yet.It's our understanding there are groups that would love to see this expanded.
The challenge is any expansion to this bill would send it back to the House of Commons which could well mean that the bill would not actually get royal assent.
For any groups that are looking to propose amendments to this bill, our advice would be let's let this bill pass as is.It's in the Senate.
Let's get it through Royal assent and if there's other improvements that people want to make, we come back to it and we bring those as future amendments to the law once it's the law.
Trying to amend something before it becomes the law, just means it goes back to the House of Commons and anything that delays this bill will have an impact on incentives for farmers.
It's important that the Senate to pass the bill as is and that we get the opportunity to start to see those benefits as soon as we possibly can.
Heckbert says anything that can be done to reduce costs, particularly input costs for farmers, is an important thing for government to do.He suggests that's why this bill has received as much support as it did and why it's important for this bill to be passed.
Source : Farmscape.ca