Senate votes to amend Bill C-234

An amendment to remove barn and greenhouse heating from a bill that would exempt certain farm fuels from the carbon price was passed today in the Senate by a narrow margin.

The amendment, put forward by Senator Pierre Dalphond, passed by one vote–40 Senators voted yes, 39 voted no, and none abstained. It amends Bill C-234, a private members bill designed to exempt farm fuels for grain drying, barn and greenhouse heating from the price on carbon.

The bill, once it has been read for a third time in the Senate, will return to the House of Commons to be debated again.

In recent weeks the bill has proved a lightning rod for controversy.

Conservatives have accused the Liberal government of running interference on the bill. Conservative agriculture critic John Barlow suggested the Liberals had appointed five new senators to bolster votes against the bill. Conservative senators also said that amendments, which would send the bill back to the House of Commons, were a tactic to endlessly stall the bill until it died on the order paper. As per the House of Commons’ calendar, posted to its website, the final sitting day for the house is December 15.

Meanwhile, Senators who have aligned themselves against the bill accused Conservative senators of bullying and inciting harassment via social media.

The amendment may have expedited the inevitable. Earlier today, Dave Carey, the Canadian Canola Growers Association’s vice-president of government and industry relations, told AGCanada he’d been hearing that a Senator had another amendment lined up if this one failed.

In a post to social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Carey called the vote “Unbelievably disappointing.”

More to come.

—Geralyn Wichers is associate digital editor of AGCanada.com. She writes from southeastern Manitoba.