I’d like to welcome Scott Helps, chair of Egg Farmers of Ontario, and its entire provincial board of directors for being here and starting our day off with a wonderful breakfast.

I appreciate the question very much, because it allows me, in this House, to stand up and speak on behalf of Ontario farmers. They’ve told me over the last couple of weeks that cost of production this year alone has jumped 20% to 30%. That translates into horrendous prices at the grocery store.

You know, a farmer told me once that he can manage fluctuations in commodity prices; he can adapt to changing weather conditions, but what worries him and keeps him up at night is bad ideology. And let me tell you very clearly, there’s no worse ideology than the Liberal carbon tax.

We need to face the facts: Right now, the carbon tax is at a rate of $65 per tonne. Under the Liberal federal government, in six short years, they want to see that rate increase to $170 per tonne. We can’t afford life under the federal Liberal government now, and their carbon tax—God help us all if that Liberal federal government is allowed to continue. We need to scrap that tax—

I agree with the member opposite. Our farmers throughout Ontario are being punished by a ridiculous Liberal ideology that is driving this carbon tax to increase the cost of production and ultimately the cost of everything, and it is unsustainable.

Do you know what’s really worrisome for me? That ideology is being sustained, because just last week, Liberal-leaning senators absolutely gutted C-234. That was a bill that would have seen farmers exempted for heating barns and drying grains and oil seeds. That would have saved hundreds of millions of dollars across this province and Canada. Quite frankly, with that gutting of C-234, cost of production is going to continue to rise.

Ladies and gentlemen, do the honourable thing. Join our government and stand up against bad Liberal ideology that’s doing nothing but driving up the cost of living in—

Interjections.

Please join us for a picture on the stairs right after this.