The federal government says it’s siding with Canadian farmers on the right-to-repair debate.
An announcement this week from the federal government called for an adjustment to the Competition Act that would prevent manufacturers from refusing to provide the means of device and product repair in an “anti-competitive manner.”
That declaration came in the government’s 2023 Fall Economic Statement, released Tuesday.
Why it matters: The right-to-repair debate has been a long-fought battle on between producers and manufacturers.
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Grain Growers of Canada was among those applauding the decision.
“Enabling growers to access essential tools and software for maintaining their equipment — such as tractors and combines — will foster a more equitable landscape between manufacturers and consumers,” GGC executive director Kyle Larkin said in a release.
This right to repair will enable producers to save time during critical points of the growing season, the farm group argued.
READ MORE: Right to repair still an issue
Those on the manufacturing side have been more lukewarm on right to repair.
In a webinar held by the Canada West Foundation last year, Eric Wareham of the North American Equipment Dealers Association defended manufacturers’ ability to hold certain repair tools and methods in-house. He argued that farmers already have the ability to repair 98 per cent of a piece of ag equipment.
“The two per cent we do not allow access to is our critical safety and emissions criteria functions,” said Wareham.
The association supports “the right to repair but not to modify,” he added.
Manufactures have concerns that, if given proprietary repair tools, some owners will damage their equipment by altering it.
Gaps
Although Larkin classified the announcement as a step in the right direction, he added that there needs to be more clarity as to what would and would not be included under the amendment.
“The devil is going to be in the details,” he said. “Of course, we want agriculture, equipment, tractors, combine, etc. to be included. It’s not precisely clear in the economic statement that it will be included.
The right-to-repair lobby would also like to see amendments to the Copyright Act, said Larkin.
“One of the challenges that farmers have experienced is that a lot of the time manufacturers will stand behind their intellectual property and that’s what they’ll use to not offer farmers the access to tools and diagnostics information to actually repair their equipment themselves,” he said.
“They also hold back a lot of that software from independent shops.”
Other nuggets
Beyond the right-to-repair announcement, mentions of agriculture were light in the Fall Economic Statement Nov. 21.
A search of the 141-page document for the term “agriculture” revealed only a handful of results.
Non-agriculture features of interest to farmers include plans to ease the exemption reporting requirements for the federal Underused Housing Tax (UHT), for certain classes of property and property owners.
One of the few other sections of interest for farmers referred to the use of waste biomass to generate electricity and heat.
Industries such as canola have eyed the biofuel market as a potential avenue for growth. Speaking at an early November event at the Richardson Centre for Food Technology and Research in Winnipeg, Curtis Rempel, Canola Council of Canada vice-president of crop production and innovation, noted the hype biofuels have created for the commodity.
A significant chunk of the council’s research dollars is going to processing technology to tailor canola for the new market, as well as yield to meet the anticipated demand, he told attendees.
“Biofuels seem to be taking the front-and-centre space for the oilseed sector, at least in Western Canada,” he said.
The recent economic statement says that “During the course of production, industries like forestry and agriculture generate organic by-products, such as leftover wood chips and crop residues, which have the potential to be used to generate affordable energy while also reducing emissions.”
Tax credits expanded
The statement proposed expanded eligibility for the 30 per cent Clean Technology investment tax credit, which could play into the future of the biofuel market.
“This expansion… would be available to businesses investing in eligible property that is acquired and becomes available for use on or after the date of the 2023 Fall Economic Statement,” the document read.
Another tax credit expansion would see wider eligibility for the 15 per cent Clean Electricity investment tax credit, to include systems that produce electricity or a mix of electricity and heat from waste biomass. That tax break would be available as of the date of Budget 2024 for projects that did not begin construction before March 28, 2023.
— Jeff Melchior reports for Alberta Farmer Express from Edmonton.
