Mr. Speaker, I am tabling, in both official languages, the dissenting opinion of the Conservative Party of Canada to the report on climate change and soil and water conservation.
We agree with most of the report and most of the committee's recommendations. However, we wish to draw attention to some aspects of the report and believe that more information should be made available to Canadians with regard to the Liberal government's climate change policies.
It became clear in committee that the Liberal members were deliberately avoiding discussion, particularly with regard to some politically troubling facts related to the economic aspects of the carbon tax, the key element of the government's pan-Canadian framework.
We believe that it is important that the government tell Canadians what impact the carbon tax will have on lowering greenhouse gas emissions and what that tax will cost Canadian farm families.
We believe that it is irresponsible of the government not to assess all of the impacts the federal carbon tax will have on the environment, the economy, the budget, and employment and not to share that information with Canadian farmers and agricultural businesses.
The dissenting opinion contains only one recommendation, and that is that the government scrap the federal carbon tax, which is causing disproportionate harm to the agricultural industry and rural communities.