The Senate continues to wrangle over Bill C-234 which would exempt farmers from paying the carbon tax on fuels to dry grain and heat barns and greenhouses.
The bill has support from Prairie members of the Senate and from Conservative leader Pierre Pollievre who is urging passage of the bill passed with unanimous party support by the House of Commons.
But Senator Pierre Dalphond is trying for a second time to pull barns and greenhouses out of the bill. That amendment has already been defeated once in the Senate.
While Dalphond is officially an independent senator, he was appointed by the Liberals.
The Liberals are in hot water over exempting house-heating oil from the carbon tax. Those concerned about climate change oppose any exemptions; those opposed include Conservatives such as Pollievre who want to scrap the entire carbon tax.
The Conservatives were talking about asking the House of Commons to intervene to pressure the Senate to pass C-234 without amendments.
Caught in the middle of this broader policy debate are farmers trying to make ends meet.
Pollievre and several colleagues hammered on the carbon tax issue and its impact on food prices during Question Period Wednesday.
Trudeau said farmers are exempt from 97 per cent of carbon taxes, but Pollievre held it almost solely responsible for rising food prices.
He repeatedly said Carleton Mushroom Farm is facing a $100,009 carbon tax cost this year and it is scheduled to increase to $400,000 a year in the future.
He said the farm must either pass this cost increase on to consumers or lose its Canadian customers to imports.
