MB Co-operator: Carbon pricing focus of KAP resolutions
As the Manitoba Co-operator reports:
Carbon pricing is coming, but Manitoba producers are still trying to suss out exactly what that will mean for their farms.
At Keystone Agricultural Producers’ annual general meeting in Winnipeg last week, three resolutions were put forward on the issue, including one asking for clarification on the organization’s position on the carbon pricing. That resolution — which asked that KAP develop an easy-to-interpret awareness campaign spelling out the direct and indirect costs of carbon pricing — was adopted with near unanimous support…
…But other resolutions regarding carbon pricing were greeted less favourably, including one that asked KAP to lobby the Manitoba government to “treat the carbon tax as a true transparent tax that is fully refundable perpetually, annually, and voluntary basis.”…
…However, it was young and aspiring farmers who spoke out against the resolution.
“What kind of message is that sending to the general public? Are we being accountable by opting out?” asked Jake Ayre, an agriculture student at the University of Manitoba. He added that if producers aren’t at the table in good faith as carbon pricing is introduced, government will be less inclined to listen to and work with farmers in the future.
After speaking with her classmates, Bailey Sigvaldason said the consensus was that the resolution put producers’ social licence at risk.