A new motion in the Manitoba Legislative Assembly calls on the federal government to scrap its fertilizer reduction targets for farmers citing the irreparable harm they could do to the agriculture industry and food security.
MLAs Ian Wishart and Brad Michaeleski introduced Resolution 21 “Federal Fertilizer Reduction” on Tuesday calling on the Legislative Assembly to urge Ottawa to scrap the 30% emissions reduction target.
“(We call on) the federal government to abandon their fertilizer reduction strategy that will hurt Manitoba farmers, producers and families, and additionally ensure that there are no penalties or exclusions from federal programs for farmers who do not meet these arbitrary targets,” the resolution read.
The motion blamed the “money printing fiscal policy of the federal Liberal-NDP coalition” for putting pressure on struggling families.
“(Ottawa) has failed to engage Manitoba’s farmers, failed to consult with Indigenous farmers and has failed to consider the impacts this will have on farmers and producers,” the motion explains.
“This bad public policy will impact anyone who purchases or consumes food in this country, and like most federal policies, those struggling the most will be the ones who are disproportionately impacted.”
This comes at a time when the Trudeau Liberals attempt to brush off farmers’ concerns over fertilizer emission reduction measures as “disinformation.”
“Justin Trudeau and the NDP-Liberal coalition’s plan to impose fertilizer reduction targets is totally irresponsible during a time of food insecurity and high inflation,” said Wishart. “This harmful policy will drive up the price of groceries.”
As exclusively reported by True North in April, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government branded Canadian grain producers as being among the world’s worst emissions offenders.
The attack on Canada’s agriculture sector has caused some farmers groups to warn that any reduction to fertilizer use could impact yields. A poll conducted in August found that 72% of farmers agreed that crop yields would plummet if the emissions scheme was adopted.
During a Sept. 23 meeting of the House of Commons International Trade Committee, the Chairman of Grain Farmers of Ontario Brendan Byrne told parliament that farmers are already struggling to deal with the ballooning costs of fertilizer.
“The cost to produce this year’s crop was higher than we’ve ever experienced. Fertilizer is one part of that price: Shortages were real, right up to the time of planting. Retailers were rationing fertilizer because shipments were blocked by sanctions put in place in Canada,” explained Byrne. “This year, Ontario farmers paid 238% more than they did in the spring of 2020.”
