Environmental Minister Steven Guilbeault has issued praise for an opinion piece written by a lobbyist group that he paid $287,000 to just six months ago.

Guilbeault quoted the article on Tuesday, which was written by Stewart Wells and Darrin Qualman of the National Farmers Union.

“The evidence is clear: our carbon levy is not the cause of food price increases,” the quote reads. 

What Guilbeault didn’t do, however, is inform Canadians that his government paid the National Farmers Union $287,487 on April 1 of this year. The generous grant was given by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and was meant to “maximize the opportunities for equity-deserving farmers.” 

The opinion piece gives a laundry list of reasons why the carbon tax doesn’t hurt the price of food inflation, arguing that it’s “high everywhere.” They also argue that the majority of farmers’ expenses are unaffected by the levy.

The authors go on to argue that the cost of inaction would be more devastating to the economy than the cost of the tax. 

But one glaring omission from their op-ed is the fact that food needs to be transported. 

Last week, while speaking to a parliamentary committee, the Canadian Trucking Alliance’s Geoffrey Wood said the Liberals’ carbon tax is directly costing the industry $2 billion annually, and $15,000 to $20,000 per truck every year.

Wood said the carbon tax is “grossly inflating the cost of the supply chain,”  adding that it affects the cost of “everything.” 

Guilbeault has been under fire over the true cost of the carbon tax since last week, when the Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed that the overall cost of the levy is greater than whatever Canadians receive back in carbon tax rebates.

Since the report was released, the self-declared socialist has said it’s proof his carbon tax is working. 

Paying for “expert” opinions is nothing new for the federal Liberals. In 2021, they even funded journalists to “encourage vaccine confidence.”