Thread by @cosminDZS

#EXCLUSIVE: Federal documents obtained by @TrueNorthCentre show that Ottawa has considered forcing a carbon tax-like "regulatory backstop" onto farmers should voluntary agreements to reduce fertilizer emissions not meet the 30% reduction target. #cdnpol
tnc.news/2023/01/30/con…

An internal Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada policy discussion paper recommends giving consideration to a "regulatory backstop should voluntary approaches not be successful." When the federal carbon tax was introduced it was also described as a "regulatory backstop."

Farmers have expressed concerns about not being able to accurately measure fertilizer emissions.

“Estimates are based on experiments (small plots, research conditions) and may not be realized in every region or every condition at real scale,” wrote Agriculture Canada.

In some cases research has shown that practices advocated by the government to reduce emissions has actually led to the reverse – a noted increase in nitrogen emissions.

The federal government has denied that the fertilizer target was a "mandate" and Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau has dismissed concerns from farmers about further regulation as "misinformation."

This is part one of the Fertilizer Files, a three-part series on what internal government documents show about the Trudeau Liberals’ push to reduce fertilizer emissions. More files will be released on @TrueNorthCentre in the coming days.