We've certainly asked our members what they've done to protect the environment.
As I mentioned in our opening remarks, we regularly survey our farm members, and they provide us with hundreds of comments about their issues of concern. I think farmers recognize that they're part of the solution, not part of the problem.
I just want to read a few comments from some of our members.
This is from a member in Saskatchewan: “Farmers always look after the environment. If we didn't our livelihoods would be gone. Things such as direct seeding has made a huge impact by better conserving our soils and sequestering carbon, and greatly reducing fuel usage.” That's one member's comment.
Farmers care about protecting the environment. We know that they've done a number of things. We've received hundreds of comments. Many farmers say they have purchased new and better equipment. They've adopted minimum and zero-tillage practices. They've used technology to maximize efficiency and reduce inputs. They maintain and protect wildlife habitat. They've increased manure management, protected waterways and recycled more farm materials.
We've done a number of surveys on the environment, and we know that our members are making those investments. It's important that policy-makers recognize the substantial progress in the agriculture sector and recognize that the sector is part of the solution, not the problem.
We worry in this case that by imposing costly carbon taxes on the sector, this has really stymied many farm businesses' viability, profitability and their ability to invest in new technology.
That's one of the points that I wanted to make. As we move towards $170 per tonne, that takes away their ability to invest in new equipment. Again, we support the intentions of this bill as a positive first step in addressing the unfairness of a federal carbon tax.