SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Ontario Assembly

43rd Parl. 1st Sess.
October 26, 2023 09:00AM
  • Oct/26/23 11:00:00 a.m.

I’m pleased to share with the member opposite, who’s a huge champion for our agri-food industry, that we are listening to stakeholders, we’re listening to farmers, and we’re bringing forward thoughtful policies that truly are making a difference.

For instance, I was so very proud to continue to support the Minister of Red Tape Reduction and his most recent piece of legislation he tabled that could translate into potential savings of $4 million for agriculture and horticultural societies—and we’re continuing to reduce burden.

But we need to be perfectly clear in this House: The biggest burden on Ontario farmers today is the carbon tax. I think every single MPP in this House should be standing up and doing the right thing for Ontario farmers and saying no to the carbon tax. I am totally disgusted with the events this past week, whereby C-234 has been completely gutted, especially during our harvest. I’m sure the agriculture minister—“minister”; I just promoted you—the agriculture critic for the NDP—

But it’s our government, under the leadership of Premier Ford, that’s listening. And because of that, we’re introducing $8 million worth of programs to support the mental health of farmers in Ontario. We’re introducing, next week, $16.5 million in our Ontario Agri-Food Research Initiative. We’re moving forward and trying to introduce and incent food and beverage manufacturers to save on energy and bring through innovations, and that program alone is a $10-million investment. Ladies and gentlemen, we are also investing $10 million in improving meat-processing capacity in this province. We’re listening. We’re bringing forward programs that are going to help—

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