Last-Ditch Effort to Reverse Amendments on Farmers Bill Fails in House of Commons

Storm clouds pass by the Peace Tower and Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Aug. 18, 2020. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

A last-ditch Conservative motion to get rid of amendments to the farm heating bill failed in the House of Commons Dec. 13, one day after Bill C-234 passed its third reading in the Senate.

The Tories’ Bill C-234, which sought to remove the carbon tax from propane and natural gas used to heat or cool barns and dry grain, passed the House with support from Tory, NDP, Bloc Quebecois, and Green Party MPs back in March. However, it was amended by the Senate in December to remove all but grain drying from the bill and axe provisions allowing Parliament to extend the carbon tax exemption on propane and natural gas for farming purposes eight years after the bill’s passage.

The text of the motion read that according to the Canadian Constitution, all financial, spending, and tax relief measures must originate in the House of Commons, meaning the Senate had “overstepped its role” by adding the amendments to the legislation. It also called on the government to reject the Senate amendments and reinstate the bill “as passed by the House to remove the carbon tax on farmers.”

But when Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis rose in Parliament to read the motion—which required unanimous consent to be successful—Liberal MPs immediately began yelling that they did not support it. “I regret I’m hearing a lot of ‘no’s from other members...there’s not unanimous consent to proceed,” said House Speaker Greg Fergus.

Sen. Pierre Dalphond, who tabled the amendment removing everything except grain drying from the bill, told the National Post that the senators adopted two amendments based on “clear evidence that reducing emissions in barn heating is possible now, like with other buildings, and that a three-year exemption is more reasonable than eight years for grain drying, considering available efficiencies and emerging technology.”

Conservatives have relentlessly voiced their opposition to the newest version of the bill, even forcing an all-night voting session last week in an attempt to get the Liberals to stop their carbon tax agenda. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre got his party to table dozens of amendments, which had to be voted on in the House of Commons, to “ruin” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Christmas in retaliation for the Senate weakening a carbon tax exemption bill to help farmers.

Mr. Poilievre accused the Liberals of using “manipulation and intimidation” to “gut” the bill in the Senate, while the Liberals claimed the Senate is independent and they have only appointed independent senators.

During Question Period on Dec. 14, Mr. Poilievre highlighted a mushroom farm in Carleton, Ont., that has had to pay nearly $173,000 in carbon taxes, with the number set to balloon to $450,000 by 2030. In response, Mr. Trudeau said the average family farm would pay “less than one percent of what that very successful farm pays” because 97 percent of farm fuel emissions were exempt from the carbon tax, which is why the Liberal government was continuing to push farmers to “reduce emissions as they move forward into a net zero future.”

Mr. Poilievre responded that the prime minister was accusing the mushroom farm of “being too successful, therefore they need to pay higher taxes,” adding that “he clearly has no idea about our food supply chain because of course, grains have to be dried and the fuels for drying are now taxed.”

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has claimed that the original form of Bill C-234 would have saved farmers, and by extension consumers, nearly $1 billion between now and 2030.