By Joel van der Veen

DAVIDSON — October has been a month of bad news for farmers so far, with continuous snow and rain bringing harvest to a grinding halt.

But for Gerrid Gust, Justin Trudeau’s announcement of a federal carbon pricing program was the cherry on top of the sundae.

Gust, who farms with his family east of Davidson, said the increased costs of fuel, fertilizer and transportation will be hard on producers across the board.

“I don’t know why we would want to be a leader in taxing ourselves to death,” he said Thursday. “Will this accomplish what they’re trying to do?”

Unless other countries introduce similar schemes, Gust said, the added costs will make Canadian farmers less competitive on the world stage.

“Russia is never going to do this,” he said. “It just compounds the amount of money that will flow out of resource economies.”

The Liberal government announced Oct. 3 that it would move forward to institute a carbon pricing plan in 2018, setting the initial price at $10 per tonne, and rising to $50 per tonne by 2022.

Provinces and territories will be able to implement the system as they see fit, meeting or exceeding that price, using either a direct price on carbon or a cap-and-trade system.

The federal government will impose carbon pricing on any province that does not establish its own mechanism by the start date.

Trudeau’s announcement came during a Montreal meeting between environment minister Catherine McKenna and her provincial counterparts, three of whom walked out of the meeting in protest.

British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec already have plans in place for carbon pricing.

The Liberals said the plan would be revenue-neutral and all taxes would remain in the provinces where they are collected.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall was among the outspoken critics of the carbon pricing plan, calling it a tax and predicting widespread economic damage as a result.

For the full story, please see the Oct. 17 edition of The Davidson Leader, or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.