Guillaume Deschênes-Thériault

“Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for The Eastern Peninsulas. I rise today to speak to Bill C-38, the Canadian fuel affordability act. For months, Conservatives have urged the Liberal government not to raise taxes on gas and diesel while Canadians are struggling with the cost of living. This spring, we called for the federal taxes on fuel to be lifted to give Canadians some breathing room at the pump. The Liberals responded by pausing only the fuel excise tax and only until Labour Day, just as families were heading back to school and farmers were heading into harvest. We kept pressuring, and only after months of Conservative pressure have the Prime Minister and the Liberals now agreed to delay the tax once again. I am glad the Liberals have come around. Families in London—Fanshawe and across the country will have a little more room in their budgets this winter, and Conservatives are proud of the role we played in making this happen. Let me be clear about what the bill would do. It would delay the tax increase, but only briefly. Beginning February 1, in the middle of an Ontario winter, the tax would start coming back at half the rate. By April 1, Canadians would be paying the full amount again. Relief that runs out in the middle of winter is not enough. However, I will support getting the relief to Canadians, because any relief for working people is welcome. According to the government’s own figures, the extension means that Canadians would continue to save more than five dollars on a typical 50-litre fill-up. For a family that fills up once or twice a week, that is real money. It is grocery money. It is money for a child’s hockey registration. It is money toward a heating bill. However, Canadians deserve to know that under the bill, that money would be scheduled to disappear again in a few short months. There is something else in the bill worth noting. In announcing it, the Liberal government acknowledged that fuel costs are felt across the economy. It named truckers. It named agriculture, housing, construction and delivery. It recognized that when fuel costs go up, the cost of moving food, of building materials and of everyday goods goes up with them. For years, members on this side of the House made exactly that argument, and for years, we were told that fuel taxes had little real impact on affordability. However, the bill is an acknowledgement that we were right. Fuel taxes do matter. Lowering them does help reduce cost pressures throughout the economy. The Liberals originally presented this measure as temporary. They are now extending it because the economic reality has made the case for us. If suspending the tax helps Canadians today, then keeping fuel costs low should remain a priority going forward, not something with an expiry date, because the pressure Canadians are facing has not gone away. Gas prices have risen more than a quarter. Energy costs overall are up by more than 16%. Transportation costs are up nearly 8%, and grocery prices continue to climb. Diesel, which powers the tractors that grow our food and the trucks that deliver it, has risen even more sharply. The Grain Growers of Canada has estimated that fuel for a large combine could cost over $15,000 more this harvest than last. Those costs do not stay on the farm or at the gas station. They show up at the checkout counter. In my own riding of London—Fanshawe, I hear about this constantly. When I hosted a town hall for seniors this spring, the conversation kept coming back to the cost of living. Seniors on fixed incomes told me about stretching every dollar as groceries, housing and everyday expenses kept going up. Many of them were not only worried about themselves. They were worried about their children and grandchildren, with young families working hard and still finding it difficult to get ahead. Last month at my town hall on housing and affordability, we heard those same concerns from Londoners of all ages. When rent or a mortgage takes up so much of the monthly budget, everything else becomes harder to manage: groceries, utilities and the cost of filling up the car to get to work. Again, many worry about the next generation and whether the milestones their parents could plan for, like owning a home, are slipping out of reach. I have said in the House that London is the canary in the coal mine. When the economy goes wrong, Londoners are the first to feel it, and it hits our community the hardest. Fuel costs are no exception. London is closely tied to manufacturing, transportation and the North American supply chain. Our workers commute. Our businesses ship goods. Our families drive. For many people in my riding, fuel is not a choice but a necessity, and when it costs more, London feels it first. This is not a narrow concern. Canadians across this country share it. Polling this summer found that 63% of Canadians opposed bringing the fuel excise tax back in September. That included 62% of Ontarians and 72% of seniors, with clear majorities opposed in every region of the country. Canadians across generations and across provinces agree. When life is this expensive, the federal government should not be adding to the cost of getting to work, heating a home or putting food on the table. Conservatives have been making that case for months, and Canadians have been making it with us. Rather than talking about another temporary pause, I want to use the rest of my time to put forward some ideas for real, lasting relief. First is predictability. Under this bill, this tax would begin coming back in February and return in full in April. Families, farmers and small businesses plan ahead. Spring planting is right around the corner, and many businesses are setting their budgets now. At a minimum, the Prime Minister should extend this relief at least to Canada Day so that Canadians are not facing another cliff during some of the most expensive months of the year. Second, this bill deals with only one of the federal costs layered on top of fuel. The GST is charged on gas and diesel, which means that when prices rise, the federal tax rises with them. Removing the GST on fuel would put more money back in people’s pockets at precisely the moment they need it most. Likewise, the clean fuel regulations add roughly seven cents a litre today, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, and that cost is projected to grow. As well, the industrial carbon tax continues to feed into the price of food and goods. If the Prime Minister and the Liberals now accept that fuel costs matter to affordability, then those measures deserve the same scrutiny. Third, we should take a hard look at the long-term picture. Canadians are paying noticeably more for diesel than our American neighbours. Part of the answer is building more capacity here at home, more refining, more storage and a strategic reserve that can protect Canadians from supply disruptions beyond our borders. Global events will always affect prices, but we can make sure Canada is better prepared and less exposed when they do. Canadians are doing their part. They are working hard, raising families, running businesses and adapting to challenges that are often beyond their control. Government cannot remove every one of those challenges, but it can avoid making them harder. This bill shows what is possible when the Liberal government responds to the concerns that Canadians and Conservatives have been raising. I am glad it has come this far, but a delay is not a solution, and Canadians need real relief that brings lower prices, not a pause with an expiry date. Conservatives are proud of our role in securing this relief, and we will continue to push for a more affordable Canada for the families, seniors, workers and businesses of London—Fanshawe and across this country.”