Ontario opposes federal carbon tax on agriculture

#federalcarbontax; #Ontario; #DougFord, #ErnieHardeman, #RodPhillips, #GreenhouseGasPollutionPricingAct

Ottawa, Mar (Canadian-Media): Ontario government is fighting the imposition of a job-killing federal carbon tax on fuels to would be effective in April,  afflicting the agricultural sector, to prevent rise in cost of food across Ontario, media reports said.

The federal carbon tax on fuels which would be effective in April  will cost a typical household $258 per year in 2019 and will rise to $648 by 2022.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Ernie Hardeman, Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and Rod Phillips, Ontario Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, were present at Veldale Farms yesterday with farmers and agribusiness representatives restate Ontario's support for Ontario farmers and agri-food businesses and fighting the federal carbon tax to keep Ontario open for business and open for jobs.​

Carbon Tax. Image credit: Wikipedia

Concerned about the negative economical impact on greenhouse sector due to the 20 percent of propane and natural gas not exempted from the tax, Stakeholders across the agri-food sector in Ontario also said carbon tax will not help the environment or reduce emissions.

"Our Environment Plan...serves as proof that you can both oppose a carbon tax and continue to do more to fight climate change, you don't have to choose," concluded Phillips. "Ontario deserves a healthy environment and a healthy economy."

Through the efforts of individuals and industry, Ontario is already most of the way to this target, with the province's emissions down 22 percent since 2005 and commits to reducing our emissions to 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, a target that aligns with the federal government's Paris commitments.

"Ontario's farmers and agribusiness leaders have told us that a carbon tax will increase the cost of doing business, from heating fuels to transportation costs of shipping products to market...When costs go up, consumers often pay the price...I am standing up for our farmers and agribusinesses — to protect the sector, our economy and Ontario jobs," said Hardeman.

Being part of a coalition of provinces that pledged to fight the federal government’s carbon tax, Ontario is also joined by Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Manitoba to challenge federal government's Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act. Ontario’s case challenging the constitutionality of the federal carbon tax will be heard by the Court of Appeal from April 15 to 18, 2019.

A survey of business owners in Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick revealed that 87 percent of Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses opposed this federal carbon tax plan.​