Mr. Speaker, I will do it right at the outset. I want to take this opportunity to wish a happy Valentine's Day to my wife, Ginette, and to my children, including my eldest, Geneviève, who is celebrating her birthday today.
It is always a pleasure to rise in this House. I want to thank the people of Beauce for giving me the privilege of representing them here. It has been over four years already.
Tonight's subject is very simple. As previous speakers so expertly explained, Bill C‑234, which was passed by a majority of members of this House, was sent to the Senate and returned to us with an amendment that effectively gutted it.
For farmers—I was a farmer for over 50 years, which dates me somewhat, but I wanted to mention it anyway—heating farm buildings is very important. Just last weekend, I was speaking with some old acquaintances in the pork industry about how barn heating is a major issue, especially in my region. We all know what happened last year in Beauce. In December 2023, the Olymel pork processing plant closed down, putting 992 people out of work. There are very serious consequences.
Independent pork and chicken farmers back home are strongly impacted by everything related to Bill C‑234 and the barn heating exemption. My Bloc Québécois colleagues will say that I am wrong, but I would suggest that they go talk to pork, chicken and egg farmers in their ridings and see for themselves that there is actually a tax charged on their bills. This tax is for heating their buildings with propane. Quebec does not produce any propane; it has to come from outside the province. This has consequences for people.
Under this Liberal government, production costs have skyrocketed because of the infamous carbon tax that we have been talking about for months. Members opposite do not seem to grasp the consequences that this can have for agriculture and particularly for farmers. Farmers are having a really hard time making ends meet. They are struggling with supply chains. Everything costs more. We can talk about input costs, including the tax on fertilizers that was introduced just over a year and a half ago and that affects every farmer. Their burden keeps growing all the time.
I find it hard to understand how people here in the House can fail to see that farmers feed us. They are not out to destroy the planet. I was a farmer by trade. I was a fourth-generation farmer. Right now, the fifth generation is running the family farm. When I think back on my grandfather and my great-grandfather, I am sure that they were not farming because they wanted to destroy the planet. They farmed to produce food and feed a growing population. We have fewer and fewer farmers. Maybe it is high time that this Parliament thought long and hard about its actions and provided a lot more support to our farmers.
Farmers have to cope with factors beyond their control. In this case, however, we do have some control over taxes. All we are asking for is an exemption from the carbon tax for the propane and natural gas used to heat buildings. We are talking about heating buildings, but we are also talking about greenhouses, which also use propane gas. We are talking about vegetables, pork and chicken, things we eat on a very regular basis. Just today, I was looking at the lunch menu. Chicken is on a lot of menus.
With that in mind, it is really important that we think about supporting our farmers. They feed the planet, and Canada first and foremost. As I have said many times in committee, agriculture is a very important economic driver, but unfortunately, it is underestimated and overlooked on a regular basis. We should make the most of the wealth that Canada can contribute through its agriculture and diversity. From Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Ontario to the western provinces and British Columbia, every farm makes an important contribution to our food supply.
I am also saddened to see a significant increase in input costs, as I mentioned earlier. In my region, Beauce, food bank use has increased by over 30% in the last six months. Is this acceptable? Of course not. If we want to support our citizens, we have to provide them with affordable food. One of the quickest ways to make prices more affordable is to help producers, our farmers who produce this food. That is really important.
I would like to send a very clear message to all my colleagues in the House of Commons. Yes, the Senate sent us an amendment. What we are asking the House to do, given that Bill C-234 was previously passed, is to return to the full version, which includes heating for buildings, greenhouses and grain drying.
This is what I am asking of my colleagues, and I implore them to grant my request. I urged farmers from across Canada to contact their MPs to really make them aware of the importance of restoring this bill to its original form, with the provision removing the carbon tax from heating and grain drying.
This bill also included a review in eight years' time. The amendment reduces that to three years. At present, there is no alternative after the changes have been made. We will still have to debate it in the House three years from now. Let us at least restore this bill to its original form and suspend the tax on propane and natural gas for at least the next eight years.
I strongly urge my colleagues to support Canadian agriculture. We just celebrated agriculture day, which shows how important it is. We could take care of this very easily here in the House by voting for the amendment proposed by my colleagues so that we can pass Bill C‑234 in its original form as soon as possible, because we experience groundhog day on a regular basis. We send Bill C‑234 to the Senate, we think it will be passed, but it comes back to the House with more than half of its capacity cut out, and they think that is going to help our agriculture industry.
In closing, I urge my colleagues from all parties to think about agriculture and our farmers who work hard every day.
