One Alberta family is calling it quits after more than 30 years of working the land as proud farmers.
Dawn Van Tienhoven took to social media Thursday condemning Ottawa’s punitive carbon tax and inflation for making her operations unaffordable.
“My mortgage payments went from $4,300 a month to $6,700 a month,” she said. “That’s crazy. That’s insane.”
The federal government remains committed to annual carbon tax hikes until at least 2030, only offering tax relief for 3% of families in recent months.
As a second-generation Alberta farmer, Van Tienhoven said it’s the end of Shirley’s Greenhouse. “I wanted to continue farming but I couldn’t,” she said.
“I gave it my all and I put every fibre of my heart, soul and effort into it, but I just couldn’t do it.”
A heart breaking story of a farm family in Alberta calling it quits because they cannot manage the burden of the Liberal-NDP carbon tax and inflationary spending.
There are consequences to these attacks on farming- we lose farm families & food prices go up.
Truly devastating. pic.twitter.com/nxKqdJBzSq
— John Barlow (@JohnBarlowMP) December 21, 2023
Conservative MP John Barlow called this “a heartbreaking story.”
“A farm family in Alberta calling it quits because they cannot manage the burden of the Liberal-NDP carbon tax and inflationary spending,” he said. “There are consequences to these attacks on farming — we lose farm families and food prices go up. Truly devastating.”
“So, when you have a carbon tax, it’s taxed on your food,” added Van Tienhoven. “It’s taxed on tax, on tax, on tax, and you know, it’s compounding, and it’s made life very hard for not only farmers but for many, many people out there in Canada right now.”
On inflation, she said: “I’m not the only farmer out there that’s struggling with that.”
This is a developing story.
