This view breaks the statement into its steps and names what each one does.
Madam Speaker, Procedure · 41 wordsbefore I start speaking to the act to amend the Excise Tax Act, I just want to reflect for a moment on the four Canadian Armed Forces members who were killed in a training exercise at CFB Wainwright over the weekend: 1ProcedureClaims · 28 wordsSergeant Morgan Wong from Alberta, Private Shaun Farrell of Saskatchewan, Private Aidan Goulding of North Vancouver, British Columbia, and Private Hayden Lykkemark from my hometown, Langley, British Columbia. Thanks · 13 wordsI offer my condolences to their families, their friends and their fellow soldiers.Thanks Claims · 12 wordsOf course, our prayers continue for the 39 people who were injured.2 Thanks · 6 wordsWe wish them all the best.Thanks Procedure · 21 wordsI will be sharing my time with the member for Oshawa. Today we are talking about the Canadian fuel affordability act.Procedure Reasoning · 19 wordsCanadians should understand why Bill C-38 exists in the first place and why it is here and being debated. Claims · 7 wordsThe legislation was introduced by the Liberals, 3Positioning · 32 wordsbut it was not the Liberals’ idea. This bill exists because Canadians pushed back and Conservatives fought for them. We fought for them because we understand that the affordability crisis hits home.Positioning Claims · 44 wordsCertainly, people in my riding are telling me about that. For months, Conservatives warned that rising fuel prices during an affordability crisis would make life more expensive for families, tradespeople and commuters. The Liberals insisted that higher fuel taxes would not significantly impact affordability, Positioning · 14 wordsbut today, after months of pressure, they are effectively admitting what Canadians already knew: PositioningUnearned certaintyClaims · 4 wordstaxes on fuel matter. Reasoning · 16 wordsIt matters a lot, because it is inflationary. When fuel costs go up, everything goes up: Claims · 6 wordstrucking, farming, delivering, manufacturing and processing. Reasoning · 19 wordsAll these costs get passed on to consumers, and that is why Conservatives support extending the fuel tax suspension. Positioning · 8 wordsAny relief for working Canadians is good news.Positioning Procedure · 4 wordsLet us be honest.Procedure Reasoning · 13 wordsBill C-38 would not solve the underlying problems of our current affordability crisis. Claims · 20 wordsIt would simply extend temporary relief before these taxes would eventually return in a matter of a couple of months. Positioning · 25 wordsCanadians do not need temporary Liberal band-aid solutions. They need a government that understands affordability and recognizes that families are already stretched to the limit.Positioning Reasoning · 10 wordsBill C-38 would be a step in the right direction, Positioning · 7 wordsbut it would be a small step.Positioning Promise · 14 wordsConservatives will keep fighting for lower costs, lower taxes and a more affordable Canada.Vague promise Procedure · 12 wordsLet us talk about what fuel prices mean in the real world.Procedure Claims · 29 wordsToday, drivers in British Columbia pay the highest gasoline prices in Canada.4 According to my research on GasBuddy yesterday, regular gasoline in Langley is roughly two dollars a litre.5 Anecdote · 7 wordsI know that is what I paid.Anecdote Claims · 14 wordsIn Calgary, it is about $1.45 a litre.6 In Hamilton, it is about $1.70.7 Positioning · 15 wordsImagine a family that drives a pickup truck or an SUV with a 100-litre tank.Positioning Claims · 33 wordsTo fill up in Langley costs $200. In Calgary, it is also expensive but $55 less. In Hamilton, it is also expensive at $170 but $30 less than what we pay in Langley. Reasoning · 26 wordsFor many working Canadians, this is not just a one-time investment. It is not even a monthly investment. It is a weekly expense, week after week. Claims · 18 wordsWe can imagine all the thousands of dollars extra that British Columbians are paying compared with other Canadians, Reasoning · 45 wordsand that amounts to thousands of dollars every year that could better go toward groceries, mortgage payments, kids’ sports or retirement investment savings. That is why Conservatives continue to argue that the government should stop treating gasoline and diesel as a source of tax collection. Positioning · 16 wordsCanadians deserve relief. They deserve a government that understands just how fuel prices affect everyday life.Positioning Procedure · 13 wordsThere is an important lesson that often gets missed in the affordability crisis.Procedure Reasoning · 12 wordsAffordable living is not just about prices. It is also about income. Procedure · 8 wordsI am going to take just one example.Procedure Claims · 29 wordsIn Bellingham, Washington, about an hour’s drive from Vancouver, gasoline prices are often similar to what drivers in metro Vancouver pay, yet fuel generally is more affordable for Americans. Reasoning · 10 wordsThat is because affordability is ultimately determined by purchasing power. Claims · 11 wordsTwo people can pay the same price at the gas pump, Reasoning · 38 wordsbut if one earns significantly more, fuel consumes a smaller portion of their paycheque. That is the challenge that Canadians are facing today, and I would say that this is right across the board, right across the country. Procedure · 8 wordsCanadians are not just dealing with high prices.Procedure Claims · 25 wordsAfter 10 years of Liberal Party mismanagement of our economy, we are dealing with stubbornly weak productivity growth, slower wage growth and declining purchasing power. Reasoning · 11 wordsThat is what we have after a decade of the Liberals. Claims · 33 wordsThe former Liberal finance minister recognized this as a problem. I heard her say in the House once, during one of her budget speeches, that Canada’s lagging productivity measures is Canada’s Achilles heel.8 Positioning · 37 wordsI guess she tried to convince her fellow colleagues that it was a problem, but they continued focusing on the distribution of wealth rather than growing the Canadian economy. That is still the problem we have today.Positioning Reasoning · 14 wordsYes, lower fuel taxes help and affordability relief matters, but Canadians need something bigger. The ask · 14 wordsThey need a stronger productivity growth. They need more investment. They need better-paying jobs. Reasoning · 25 wordsThe goal should not be just to make us less poor with a temporary band-aid solution. The goal should be to make prosperity possible again. Positioning · 13 wordsThat is what Conservatives focus on. Canadians are asking a very reasonable question: PositioningThe question · 21 wordsWhy are Canadians selling raw resource material at a discount to Americans only to buy refined product back at market value? Procedure · 4 wordsThere are two reasons.Procedure Claims · 45 wordsOne is that the Lower Mainland does not have enough refining capacity to fill the demand for gasoline, fuel and diesel. The second is because, with the lack of market diversification for Canada, we have one buyer for a product and that is the Americans. Reasoning · 8 wordsTherefore, we are price takers, not price setters. Claims · 24 wordsWe sell crude oil produced in Alberta to the Americans at reduced prices and we buy back a refined product at fair market value. Reasoning · 10 wordsIt is the opposite of what financial advisers tell us, Claims · 8 wordswhich is to buy low and sell high. Reasoning · 8 wordsWe do the opposite with our energy economics. Claims · 44 wordsJust across the border sits the Cherry Point Refinery near Blaine, one of the largest refineries in the northwest.9 Much of the crude oil process in Washington state originates here in Canada and is refined there. It comes back to us as finished product. Reasoning · 19 wordsThat means higher prices at the pump, fewer Canadian jobs, less investment, lower government revenues and weaker economic growth. Positioning · 22 wordsCanadians should not wonder why one of the world’s richest countries in energy production struggles to fully benefit from its own resources.Positioning Reasoning · 27 wordsAffordability is not just about taxes, but about infrastructure, energy policy, market access and ensuring Canadians benefit from their own resources. Bill C-38 provides some welcome relief, Positioning · 49 wordsbut Conservatives are fighting for something much bigger. The real issue is not simply the cost of gasoline, but the cost of living. Canadians are working hard, playing by the rules, doing everything they were told to do that would lead to success, yet too many are falling behind.Positioning Claims · 11 wordsThe price of fuel is behind most of the inflationary pressure. Positioning · 10 wordsCanadians deserve a government that understands how these costs compound.Positioning Reasoning · 8 wordsThat is why Conservatives support fuel tax relief. Promise · 14 wordsWe will vote for this bill, even though we think it is not enough. Positioning · 9 wordsIt is a small step in the right direction.Positioning Promise · 58 wordsOur objective is lower taxes, higher wages, more investments, stronger economic growth and greater energy security for Canadians.Vague promise Conservatives will bring back the Canadian promise that a good job would buy an affordable home, on a nice street, in a safe neighbourhood, with a fridge full of affordable food, Vague promiseand a car in the carport with affordable fuel.Partly on point
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