By Nigel Maxwell

Carbon tax dispute

Sask. farm group heads to court

Feb 13, 2019 | 12:00 PM

A group representing Saskatchewan farmers will present their arguments this afternoon in the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal reference case on the Federal Carbon Tax.

Beyond the constitutional issues, the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) has long argued that the carbon tax will have a disproportionate impact on farmers and ranchers as well as rural Saskatchewan. In a statement released to the media Wednesday, APAS President Todd Lewis said the costs that producers incur will be impacted by a carbon tax, such as heating barns, drying grain, road transportation of crops and livestock, fertilizer, rail transportation and other crop inputs and manufactured goods.

“When its cold, we can’t just decide to turn off the heat in livestock buildings; when we have a wet harvest like we did in 2018 we have no choice but to dry our grain with propane or it will rot. These costs are not optional expenses and they add up,” he said, also noting that the Federal Department of Agriculture has acknowledged that there are few alternate technologies that are available to producers in these instances.

“As producers, we already look for every possible cost savings, because we can’t pass those costs along,” Lewis said. “And if you reduce our financial ability to adopt new technologies, it defeats the purpose of the carbon tax.”

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The hearing is taking place in Regina and can be viewed online through CBC Saskatchewan or CTV Regina. People can also find updates on the APAS Twitter and Facebook pages. APAS was the only farm organization granted intervenor status in the case.

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