Exemption or subsidy? Thursday, January 28, 2016 by BETTER FARMING STAFF Dianne Saxe, the new environmental commissioner of Ontario, says her remarks published earlier this month and widely regarded in rural Ontario as an attack on a tax exemption on coloured diesel fuel for agriculture, were reported inaccurately. A column published in the National Post on Jan. 12 “was not accurate. It’s not what I said,” Saxe said in an interview on Friday. She says her comments were in response to a question about what she learned when she was at the international climate change conference in Paris in December. “One of the big messages that the world governments agreed on in Paris is that fossil fuel subsidies prevent us from having a level playing field. (The National Post writer) asked me if we had any in Ontario,” and she mentioned the coloured diesel exemption. Farm leaders such as Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Don McCabe have forcefully argued that the exemption from the road tax of which Saxe speaks is not a subsidy. It’s an exemption for farm machinery fuel from a tax that is in place to support road maintenance. The coloured fuel can also be used to fuel construction machinery and diesel engines that run generators. Saxe stands by her use of the term ‘subsidy,’ which she attributes to the OECD (Organization of Economically Developed Countries) definition. “By the international definition, (of a subsidy) a change in a rate of tax is a subsidy,” Saxe asserts. “It is not a moral judgement.” The OECD says there are $1 trillion worth of subsidies worldwide applied to produce and use fossil fuels. Saxe says according to the Ontario Ministry of Finance, the tax exemption on coloured diesel costs the province $215 million in revenue annually and agriculture benefits by $18 million. “Two hundred and fifteen million dollars is a lot of money. Is the best way to support farming to give the most money to the people who use the most fossil fuels and the least money to the people who use the least fossil?” she says. “It’s possible there are better ways. It’s 87 per cent not about farming anyway.” She doubts that the “fossil subsidies” will go away easily. “You don’t get to a trillion dollars in subsidies over the years without there being lots of political support for the subsidies … Our Prime Minister is committed to having this conversation. This is a conversation the whole world is having.” “Governments around the world now have to ask the question about all the subsidies that they have for fossil fuels. Why do we have it, could we do better?” In another recent interview on TVO (TV Ontario), Saxe had said that the previous environmental commissioner’s office had put forward the plan that the province adopted as its controversial plan to reduce neonicotinoid use. “The environmental commissioner’s office is absolutely committed to making recommendations based on good science,” Saxe said Friday. She says she was “not involved” in “the specifics of the neonic report,” which was prepared when former commissioner Gord Miller was in charge. “I haven’t been briefed on it yet so I can’t make any comment.” Saxe says the commissioner’s central function is to be the guardian of the province’s Environmental Bill of Rights and to monitor, evaluate and report to the Legislature and to the public on government progress towards its targets on energy conservation, environmental protection and climate. Saxe adds there is a statutory requirement to produce at least one report annually on each of those three areas and there may be more reports as well. But don’t expect her to weigh in on every environmental issue. There are “lots and lots of issues” that the commission doesn’t have time to touch. Saxe says it’s wrong to say the commissioner is appointed by the current government. “We are appointed unanimously by the three parties.” A representative from each party and the speaker do the selection and it has to be unanimous. “My duty is not to the government; it is to the Legislature and to all of the MPPs. “We want to be as helpful to the MPPs as we can.” Saxe expects to tour southwestern Ontario with OFA president McCabe in February. She says visiting greenhouses and farms is familiar territory even though the law practice she just gave up to be environmental commissioner was located in downtown Toronto. “It is mostly the type of operations I worked for when I was private practice.” BF Guelph researchers want to know what you think is Ontario's worst weed From manual readings to smart meters and back again
The Ontario region names its provincial Outstanding Young Farmers of 2024 Friday, August 30, 2024 Image supplied by Outstanding Young Farmers Partners DJ Wassenaar and Matt Bergman of Haybury Farms Inc., located at Jarvis, were named for 2024 at their regional event held near Guelph on August 22, 2024. Matt Bergman grew up on a dairy farm and started farming for himself at the... Read this article online
Easy and Convenient Organization – Wherever You Go Friday, August 30, 2024 Byline: Nevan Hagarty and Braxten Breen It’s hard enough to maintain good organization on the farm, but when it comes to your tool bench, that’s where the real challenge begins. Not knowing where tools are, misplacing small fasteners and fittings, and forgetting that one specific... Read this article online
Agri-Tech innovation gets $22.6M boost in Ontario Friday, August 30, 2024 Investments in everything from electric sprayer for its field nursery crops to reverse osmosis equipment Ontario and Canada have jointly invested up to $22.6 million to support businesses in adopting innovative technologies and practices. The investments are to enhance the efficiency and... Read this article online
Ecorobotix appoints CEO for Swiss company’s NA division Thursday, August 29, 2024 Image supplied by Ecorobotix Inc. Ecorobotix Inc., the North American division of the Swiss ag tech and AI company, Ecorobotix SA, has appointed Cameron Holbrook as its new Chief Executive Officer. Ecorobotix Inc., established in 2023 and based in Salinas, California, brings the... Read this article online
OFA asking farmers to take Cultivating Local survey Thursday, August 29, 2024 The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) is asking farmers to complete a survey about local selling opportunities. The organization is giving producers until Sept. 16 to fill out the Cultivating Local survey. “We’re looking to better understand farmers that are already or who want... Read this article online