C-234 – An Act to amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act – would change the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act to expand what farming machinery is exempt from the Carbon Tax to include heating and cooling, as well as extend the exemption for farming fuel to natural gas and propane.
So a quick bit of context on this one, Ben’s argument for C-234 is that Canadian farmers need to heat their facilities over the winter so they can properly store and/or grow crops. He says that this need along with the carbon tax puts Canadian farmers at a disadvantage to their American counterparts, so more exemptions should be made for farming uses.
The first exemption created by C-234 is for fuel for anything used to heat or cool a building, including one for housing livestock. Right now heating and cooling are explicitly called out as not being exempt. It also makes grain dryers exempt. Finally it adds propane and natural gas to the list of fuels that qualify for exemption when used for approved farming uses.
Second Reading
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 1 | 143 | 3 |
| Conservative | 111 | 0 | 3 |
| Bloc | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| NDP | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| Green | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Independent | 1 | 0 | 0 |
The Liberals voted against C-234 on the grounds that a lot of money is already being spent to help offset the cost of the carbon tax for farmers, and that additional exemptions would effectively result in the farmers double-dipping on the benefits. (They mentioned current exemptions in the carbon tax, the tax rebate farmers can qualify for, and the spending that’s going into developing green farming technologies.
Kody Blois (Nova Scotia, Kings—Hants) is the lone Liberal MP that voted in favour of C-234.
Committee Amendments
While at the committee phase a few changes were made to C-234. First of all heating/cooling is only exempt when used for housing livestock or growing crops. Any other type of heating will be taxed. With the argument that there’s currently no viable alternative for farmers, but one may be developed later, the committee also decided that C-234 should have a limited lifespan of 8 years. After that time any changes it made will automatically be undone. This can be postponed if both the House and the Senate agree to do so.
Third Reading
C-234 passed its Third Reading Vote 176 in favour and 146 against.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 3 | 145 | 2 |
| Conservative | 114 | 0 | 1 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 30 | 0 | 1 |
| NDP | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| Independent | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Green Party | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Worth mentioning here is that two more Liberal MPs – Heath MacDonald (PEI, Malpeque) and Robert Morrissey (PEI, Egmont) – have joined Kody Blois (Nova Scotia, Kings—Hants) in supporting C-234. Both Heath and Robert had voted against C-234 during the Second Reading.
Kody actually spoke about C-234 this time around, and his big argument is that (after the amendments to ensure the heating only applies to things like livestock and drying grain) C-234 is addressing an oversight in the original setup for the Greenhouse Taxes. He points out that, though there are indeed rebates in place to help farmers deal with the costs of the tax, they aren’t equitable. The example he gives is that a dairy-farmer might not be involved in drying grain, so they wouldn’t be affected by the extra cost, but would get the same rebate that someone who does have the extra cost for drying grain gets.
I also didn’t catch it earlier, but Kody is the Chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food and as such had a hand in the amendments to C-234 as well.
The Senate then passed C-234 with a small but significant amendment. The Senate has changed it so the carbon tax exemption for heating on farms will be permanent, while the other exemptions in C-234 have been reduced to only last for three years instead of the original eight.