With the new legislation facing the Senate for final approval, the Liberals have taken action to delay and essentially kill the bill to exempt farmers from the carbon tax.

In what has taken years to introduce, the Conservative-led Bill C-234 would remove carbon taxes on farmers who use natural gas and propane in the context of grain drying, irrigation, heating, and cooling livestock barns and greenhouses.

The private members bill was introduced in 2021 by Conservative MP Ben Lobb, narrowly overcoming the hurdles in the House of Commons with the support of the Bloc, NDP, Conservatives, and even a scanty number of Liberals.

However, as the bill makes its way through the Senate, the Conservatives are accusing the Liberals of playing every trick in the book to neuter the bill.  

At a press event on Tuesday, Conservative MP John Barlow accused the Liberals of trying to “kill Bill C-234 today and bury the news in the fall economic statement.” 

“In fact they are swearing in four new senators today to ensure they have the votes they need to kill this bill…” he added. 

Barlow’s statement is in reference to Trudeau appointing five senators on October 31, at least three of whom have Liberal affiliations. 

Since 2015, Trudeau has appointed 75 senators in the 105-seat Senate. 

Senators shuffled in and lobbied    

Barlow further noted that none of the recently sworn in Senators participated in previous debates or readings of the legislation.

“It would be extremely disingenuous if those five new senators were to vote on this bill today,” he said.

Former criminal activist Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s Climate Change Minister, has admitted to speaking with a number of Senators regarding the bill. 

In a statement, the Conservatives subsequently stated that “Trudeau’s top ministers have been frantically calling Senators, begging them to block this bill.”

Trudeau-appointed Senator proposed an amendment that sought to minimize the impact of the bill

During the third reading of the bill earlier this month, another Trudeau-appointed Senator, Lucie Moncion, proposed an amendment that sought to minimize the impact of the bill. 

The vote on the controversial amendment put forward by Ms. Moncion was deferred to November 28th.

Farmers show support

Unhappy with the continuous pushback from the Liberals, farmers were seen in Ottawa marching in support of the bill, which were later joined by conservative MPs and senators.

Premier’s Scott Moe, Danielle Smith, and Doug Ford all showed support for the bill, demanding it be approved without delay or further amendments.