My question is for the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. This week, Ontario pork farmers visited Queen’s Park, showcasing information about their quality products. Pork farmers contribute to making Ontario a world-class exporter for growing international markets. To my friends who are pork producers, thank you for feeding Ontario and for feeding the world.

While their contribution to our province’s economy is significant and important, the carbon tax is putting homegrown pork at a competitive disadvantage. This regressive tax, not only places a heavy economic burden on pork farmers, it also impacts the global standing of the agricultural sector.

Speaker, can the minister please explain how the carbon tax is impacting the pork sector’s contributions to Ontario’s economy?

The carbon tax only serves to harm farmers and limit their potential to grow Ontario’s agriculture and food industry. Since the introduction of the carbon tax, production costs for our farmers, greenhouse growers and food processors have risen substantially. The delivery of every single consumer good in our province, particularly fresh and processed food, is being affected by one of the most economically harmful taxes our province has ever seen.

The carbon tax harms hard-working individuals, hard-working businesses and hard-working farmers. It provides no value other than taking money from families.

Speaker, could the minister please provide an update on the status of Bill C-234 in the Senate and what actions must be taken by the federal government to provide support to our farmers—