Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to our witnesses for being with us today.
I know you had an opportunity to listen to some of the witness statements prior to your hour as well. You've heard a lot of the discussion through this study about access to affordable food. That's going to be a pillar to the study. All of you touched on it a bit in your testimony as well, and how difficult it's going to be to maintain that access to affordable food with some of the changes that are being implemented by the current government.
I would like to ask you to take a look at implementing a carbon tax and eliminating the deferral on grain cash tickets, now with these potential tax changes, and the implications this could have for passive income and succession plans.
We can start with the Horticultural Council. What is going to be the impact of these changes?
We heard at the finance committee earlier this week that if these small business tax changes go through, the typical farm will see an increase in its tax bill of about $70,000 a year. I know the farmers and ranchers in my constituency. They are certainly not wealthy, and they go on a very small margin. An additional $70,000 a year to their operation...and that's just on those tax changes. Some of them have told me that their fuel costs alone would be another $25,000 when you include the carbon tax. With those two tax changes alone, a typical farmer is looking at more than $100,000 in additional expense. How do we, then, come up with a food policy guide saying that one of the pillars is affordable food?
I would like your comments on how we can possibly harmonize those two things, with one side saying, “We need to access affordable food” and the other side of the federal government saying, at the same time, “We are going to be implementing some pretty punitive taxes on you.”