How easily could your farm business absorb an added $120,000 bill? That’s approximately what Jan Vanderhout, co-owner of Beverly Greenhouses, says the new Ontario carbon tax will cost him this year, or just over $6,000 per acre of greenhouse space. Vanderhout, a third-generation greenhouse grower and the chair of the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’… Read More
Category: Cap and trade
With federal and provincial governments rolling out carbon taxes or cap and trade programs, organizations representing farmers have been forced to choose a strategy they believe will result in the best outcome for their members. Some, such as the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, are digging in their heels and fighting any carbon tax head-on, similar to… Read More
If farmers are going to pay a tax on carbon emissions, they should also receive credit for the carbon their farms remove from the atmosphere. Many in the farm community are trying to make that case, as the federal and provincial governments roll out pricing systems that appear to lean on the cost side of the… Read More
Christmas is supposed to be over and done with but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau provided his western Canadian based critics with a big gift — bow and all — over the weekend. In a TV interview Trudeau was trying to communicate the flexibility that Saskatchewan will have under his carbon tax plan and he blew… Read More
Glen Murray is not the favourite son of Ontario’s farming industry. The Ontario Minister of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) has made few friends in the Ontario farm sector with his push to restrict use of neonicotinoid seed treatments, dismiss sound science, and impose the will of his urban-dominated government on the province’s farmers. That’s the… Read More
To quote Monty Python: Always look on the bright side of life. And so that’s how we’ll begin a discussion on Ontario’s Environment Commissioner‘s latest report entitled, Putting Soil Health First. There’s some great stuff in there: recognizing that our agricultural soils’ health is paramount to long-term soil productivity, that living roots and residue cover… Read More
The comment period is officially open on the Ontario government’s carbon Offsets Credits Regulatory Proposal. Launched this week by Ontario’s minister of the environment and climate change Glen Murray while at the United Nations’ 22nd Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Morocco, the comment period runs for 45 days. The proposed regulation allows companies participating in… Read More
Keith Currie, who farms at Collingwood, Ont., is currently one of two vice presidents of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA). Early next week, he’ll stand in front of the membership and ask them to vote him in as the new president, following two years of leadership under Don McCabe. It’s a critical time for policy… Read More
The Manitoba government is planning to implement a carbon pricing system with the goal of reducing emissions, but what it will look like has yet to be determined. Unlike her colleague from next-door Saskatchewan, Manitoba’s minister of sustainable development did not walk out of the federal/provincial/territorial environment ministers meeting in protest last week when Prime Minister Justin… Read More
The federal agriculture minister says the prime minister’s announcement of a national carbon pricing framework this week shouldn’t come as a surprise to the farm community. Lawrence MacAulay also says it will be up to the provinces to decide how agriculture fits into their carbon policies. Ottawa will require provinces implement a minimum price on… Read More
Farmers and farm groups are voicing concerns about the impact the carbon tax announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will have on farming and food production in Canada. Trudeau said the government will require provinces meet a minimum federal price on carbon of $10 per tonne in 2018, rising to $50 per tonne in 2022. The… Read More
Yesterday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blindsided not just provincial environment ministers but also premiers (and perhaps Canadians) by announcing a national carbon tax scheme that must be implemented by 2018. Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall released an emotionally-charged statement yesterday outlining how detrimental the carbon tax platform will be to Saskatchewan’s economy and the cost to individual… Read More
Ontario’s cap and trade program is expected to raise about $1.9 billion annually. The Liberal government says it will spend the proceeds on initiatives to cut greenhouse gas emissions – everything from investments in public transit and clean technology to making homes and businesses more energy efficient. Program details are still scant, but many rural… Read More