Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, a couple of the Liberal colleagues today have put out this statistic that 97% of farmers are exempt from the carbon tax. That is completely and utterly false. We know that the vast majority of farmers pay much more in carbon taxes than they would get in any rebate. In Bill C-8, which I am sure my colleague is referring to, the average farm gets about 15% to 20% back on its carbon tax.

International Trade committee  My amendment would add to it the following: “after all references to carbon pricing and carbon leakage have been removed from the modernized Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement”. What we know is that carbon taxes in Canada have caused enormous misery for Canadians. We have seen just recently that 800,000 Ontarians are now going to the food bank as a result of the carbon tax causing massive increases in food prices.

Business of Supply  With this motion, they are trying to make us believe that Bill C-234 will eliminate the carbon tax. It does not eliminate the carbon tax. It extends the exemption for farmers who use propane to dry their grain by eight years. I will say it straight off: There is no carbon tax in Quebec.

Natural Resources committee  It's very interesting, because apparently it's an ideological platform of this government to have a carbon tax, and now it's carved out for a geographical area—Atlantic Canada—a carbon tax exemption to make life more affordable there. None of the other areas of Canada received that same exemption.

Committees of the House  Farmers are trying to save money however they can so they can put money back into their businesses, grow their business, and continue to farm and grow food for Canadians. Unfortunately, the carbon tax makes their fuel more expensive. Again, if there were commercially viable options available for heating barns or drying grain, farmers would be using them if they were cheaper. Instead, we are penalizing farmers and making them pay a carbon tax when there is absolutely no option available for them to heat their barns or dry their grain other than natural gas and propane.

Business of Supply  I talked to a potato farmer today in my region and was going over some of this with him. He told me very clearly that since the enactment of the carbon tax, the freight charges on his potatoes per truckload have gone up from $1,200 to $1,800 Canadian. That is a 30% increase as a result of the carbon tax being implemented. It is directly affecting his freight charges.

Carbon Pricing  When the Prime Minister follows up with Carleton Mushroom Farms, how is he going to advise it to pay the $400,000 carbon tax bill he is sending them? Is it by raising prices on consumers or by cutting food production so we buy foreign food from polluting countries?

Carbon Pricing  Will he have the courage to actually defend his carbon tax as two million people line up in breadlines like those we have not seen since the Great Depression, and will he support our common-sense bill to axe the tax on the farmers who feed us?

Carbon Tax  The individuals who work tirelessly, cultivating crops and raising herds, are facing huge challenges with the rise of the carbon tax. The current fixed market rate at which they sell their products is not providing them with the flexibility to absorb the escalating costs imposed by this tax. It is imperative that we recognize the plight of these farmers and work toward finding solutions that ensure their success.

Carbon Tax  Speaker, in last week's mini-budget, the Prime Minister doubled down on his plan to quadruple the carbon tax on gas, groceries and home heating. Does he understand that Canadians cannot afford his excessive tax grabs? Feed Ontario's “Hunger Report 2023” shows that over the past year, the number of people who have accessed food banks has increased by 38%, while visits have increased by 36%.

Carbon Tax  Conservative Bill C-234 proposes a carbon tax carve-out for farmers. This measure would directly reduce food prices. The environment minister threatened to resign if Bill C-234 passes. The Prime Minister should instruct his senators to pass this bill.

Natural Resources committee  We have people who categorically will state that it is all because of climate change. Well, the U.S. doesn't have a carbon tax, and this last year has been one of the least severe fire seasons ever—with no carbon tax. I know that this correlation doesn't make sense, any more than the correlation makes sense that if you charge a carbon tax, you're going to be able to solve these problems.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the Liberals and the New Democrats continue to come here with their carbon-tax religion, failing to recognize that carbon is actually a building block of life and it is plant food, and that the carbon tax is not a climate change policy and has nothing to do with the environment.

Business of Supply  We supported Bill C‑234 because we understand that farmers in other provinces need support to help them make the transition and therefore be exempt from the carbon tax for eight years. However, this does not apply in Quebec because there is no carbon tax, so Quebec farmers will not see a carbon tax on the propane they use to dry their grain on their bills, as a certain member has claimed.

Committees of the House  Madam Speaker, Ukraine already has a carbon tax. It has since 2011. It was part of getting into the European market. To suggest—