Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thanks to our witnesses for being with us today. I appreciate the testimony of our experts here.
It's clear that when we had our department leads here last week, they were also unsure of how this would work. There were many questions on whether this was something that was actually achievable, having a CBAM on agricultural products. As a matter of fact, Global Affairs has even refused to appear at this committee to talk about this issue. I think that is a pretty sad testament that our own departments are unprepared to deal with this issue. The government is bringing this forward as a study at this committee when even its own department heads don't seem to be prepared, and one does not want to even appear.
To Mr. Charlebois, when we did ask finance about the possible implications of imposing a carbon border adjustment in Canada or looking at doing so....We already know the costs of the carbon tax on Canadian consumers. Even to administer, just on the government side, it is $83 million annually. We asked the finance department, “What would be the impact of a carbon border adjustment? How would it be financed and administered? What would be the impact on the agriculture industry?” Her answer was that it would be intense.
Knowing the work you've done on the impact the carbon tax is having on food prices—and I know this might be difficult to answer—in your assessment and expert opinion, what would be the possible consequences of implementing a carbon border adjustment on Canadian agriculture?