Kevin Waugh

“Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise in the people’s House and share some thoughts on the motion that we brought forward and are asking this House to consider, which is our plan for emergency relief for all Canadians, in particular those who are feeling the effects, Canadians from coast to coast to coast, of the devastating hike in fuel costs and the cost of diesel and all types of fuels. Sometimes what happens is there is a disconnect, which people pick up on from coast to coast, between those in this House and people’s lived reality back home. Their concern is whether anyone here in Ottawa, in the nation’s capital, is really listening to them and what they are going through. I want to tell members how real this is. It is hitting home for Canadians from coast to coast, and it is important that government responds with the urgency the situation demands. First off, here are some relevant statistics for us to consider: 5.6% of Canadian households are considered energy poor, 12% of Atlantic Canadian households, on average, are energy poor, and what New Brunswick is spending on gasoline has increased 85% between the years 2021 and 2023. Can members imagine how much it is going up again right now under current prices? My province of New Brunswick has the largest increase in Canada. Of New Brunswick families, 22% have experienced food insecurity. In Newfoundland and Labrador, it is 23%. In Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, it is 21%. A week’s worth of diesel on a lobster boat or crab vessel can now cost upward of $6,000. That is coming right out of the back pockets of the producers and fish harvesters on our waters. Our current prices are affecting some of the large farms, which are having to spend as much as $5,000 per day in fuel costs alone. There is no way those costs are not going to be transmitted back to every Canadian from coast to coast through the increased cost of food and groceries on the shelf. Why is that? It is because input costs are soaring. Our plan is a practical plan that addresses one of the root causes of the soaring costs and prices, which is the cost of fuel. Diesel fuel affects every Canadian who buys, purchases and receives the goods off our shelves that are trucked or shipped. In Atlantic Canada, everything we get on our shelves, as in most of Canada, has arrived by means of transport. Thankfully, we have great transport drivers and an amazing transportation sector, but their costs are going through the roof. If it comes by ship, those costs are only going up. We have to address this, and we have laid out a concrete plan to do so. What does our plan do? It provides for emergency prepermitting and tax relief for the construction of diesel infrastructure, such as refineries, pipelines, rail and storage. It also eliminates all taxes on diesel consumption until at least Canada Day of next year, 2027. It permanently eliminates taxes on diesel production, and it calls on the government to set the goal of boosting Canadian diesel production to one million barrels per day. These are practical steps that the government can take right away that would provide immediate relief for Canadians from coast to coast to coast. I could not help but be drawn to a story as I was reflecting on and preparing for the remarks I would give today. It is an ancient story of a wise young man who was put in a position of great responsibility. This young man was entrusted with coming up with a plan. How did he get that position for the nation that he was second in command over? It was because the ruler at that time was facing a great dilemma. He was disturbed by some things that he was seeing and sensing, but he did not know the path forward and was seeking wisdom and insight. He brought in all the normal people he would confer and consult with. They would just further diagnose, leave perplexed and really not provide clarity, certainty or practical answers for this ruler’s dilemma. There was a young man named Joseph who had amazing insight into the dilemma they were facing. In fact, he understood and was able to interpret the instinct and feeling the ruler had. What was that? He said that they were in a time of great blessing and great favour, that they were having bountiful crops, that their GDP was tremendous and that they were producing great wealth. He said they needed to, for the next seven years, take a portion of that and set it aside and plan for the future perils they were going to face, because it looked like, from what he was understanding, there would be seven years of prosperity followed by seven years of famine. He said they had to understand and enact the principle of using their years of favour and years of plenty to set aside some wealth so they could combat the years of famine and years of peril. I cannot help but think of a tremendous parallel to where we are today. The country has been blessed with amazing resources and incredible goods under our feet, in our soil, on our lands and in our people, yet we have not properly allocated those resources, properly unleashed and utilized those resources, and planned for the future out of those resources. In fact, we have done the opposite. For 10 or 11 years straight, we talked about dirty oil, dirty gas and keeping it in the ground, and said we were going to burn the planet, we were not going to utilize it, we were going to shut it down and we were getting away from it. Instead of using what could bring us the most wealth and potential and prepare us for the headwinds that we are currently facing, we shut it down, turned it off and spoke ill of it. Now that we are in the time of peril, challenge and uncertainty, we have instant fans of oil and gas on the other side. That is wonderful. I am thankful for the backflip to reality and the inverted suplex of policy. I think it is wonderful that they have seen the light and are now going to say that we need pipelines, that we need to develop oil and gas and that they are champions of energy from coast to coast. It is refreshing and it is wonderful, and I am thrilled and enthralled at the enlightenment that has come, but Canadians also recognize that it is the same government that has had this opportunity since 2015 and chose the exact opposite approach. Instead of storing up in the years of plenty, the Liberals spent the cupboards bare, rammed up debt and increased our deficits at astronomical rates. Now, after the fact, 11 or 12 years later, they are stepping in and saying that we have to do this, but there are still no real shovels in the ground. There are lots of grand proclamations and many great announcements about many projects. In fact, I think that no less than 500 have been announced, but I do not believe there has yet been one approval of the 500 that have been announced. I think Canadians are saying that we need action and need it now and we need relief now. As much as the announcement sounds great, we have to move beyond the announcement and beyond the diagnosis and somehow get to a place of practical solutions and real relief for our people. The lesson that we hear from Joseph and this wonderful story is to use the years of plenty to fight the years of peril. We must plan now for the times when we are going to be under duress, release the potential that is within our own economy and get off the backs of our own people so they can do what they do best, which is work, produce, innovate, grow, dream and develop. We must stop standing in their way and release the pressure that is on their backs. When we do that, we unleash the potential that is Canada. The time for action is now, and the Liberals can take that wonderful first step. They have already inverted themselves beautifully, saying that they are for oil and gas and the development of those resources. Let us take that to the next step and provide real tax relief on the fuels that Canadians consume by supporting our motion.”