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OTTAWA — When the Harper government made support for biofuels its biggest environmental policy, the aggressive push to produce gasoline from farmers' crops received broad support from opposition parties. A year later, that political consensus in favour of biofuels is suddenly breaking down on Parliament Hill.
At $2.2-billion, federal support for Canadian biofuels is the government's most expensive environmental program. It had also been the least controversial. But a series of high-profile international attacks on the use of food crops for fuel has some MPs questioning the impact of biofuels on rising food prices and social havoc among the world's poor.
"Canada should put a moratorium on subsidizing biofuels and should advocate that other Western countries follow suit," said Liberal MP Keith Martin, his party's critic for international development.
"The realistic thing to do is put a moratorium on it now so people can actually wrap their heads around the facts. The current biofuel strategy is deeply misguided," said Dr. Martin, expressing a view that is starkly out of sync with his own party.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks at the Laval Chamber of Commerce in Laval, Que., last week. (Peter McCabe/Canadian Press)
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Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion made headlines in Regina last year with his call for a doubling of federal ethanol targets to 10 per cent by 2010, twice the 5-per-cent target in a government bill currently before the House of Commons.
The government legislation was debated yesterday and is expected to pass with the support of most Liberal and Bloc Québécois MPs. While Dr. Martin's hard line on biofuels is in the minority among Liberals, there are clear signs that political support for ethanol is shifting. All three opposition parties joined forces to amend the bill in committee, placing a short leash on Canada's biofuels plan. Just one year after it becomes law, a parliamentary committee will be forced to review the environmental and economic impacts triggered by the 5-per-cent target.
Wavering political support could ultimately mean Canada will have to import ethanol to meet its targets. The biofuels industry has argued that legal targets are urgently needed to encourage Canadian farmers to get into the business and boost domestic supply.
When the legislation was briefly debated in the House on Monday, NDP MPs were overwhelmingly negative toward the government's approach, expressing concern that biofuels could trigger "a global food catastrophe."
The Bloc is supporting the government bill, but that party's environment critic literally squirmed this week when asked whether he supports his party's position.
"We have a party line. The vote will be in a few days. I don't support corn-based ethanol," said Bernard Bigras. Asked whether he was uncomfortable with his party's position, he offered a polite "no comment" and left.
Rising food costs
As agricultural policy, creating gasoline out of crops such as corn is widely praised as a source of new revenue for farmers. Politicians also love biofuels from an energy-security standpoint in the hope of reducing dependence on foreign oil.
Most vehicles on the road can already run on gas that contains as much as 10-per-cent ethanol, a common type of biofuel, and many new cars and trucks can run on 85-per-cent ethanol.
Until now, the ethanol debate has largely focused on whether government support is good environmental policy. The fuel burns cleaner, meaning fewer greenhouse-gas emissions. But critics argue that once the emissions from farm tractors, transport trucks and fertilizers are taken into account, the benefits of devoting federal climate-change dollars are questionable.
What's new are the alarm bells ringing from the developing world, where demand for food and biofuels has triggered large-scale agriculture expansion at a cost to the environment and food supply.
World Vision announced last week it is cutting 1.5 million people from its food-aid program because of rising costs. Advocates on the front lines say agricultural expansion triggered by North American and European demand for biofuels is at least part of the problem.
While some Liberal MPs are expressing doubts about biofuels, Liberal environment critic David McGuinty insists his party is committed to campaigning on Mr. Dion's 10-per-cent ethanol target by 2010.
