Discussion · Government Orders
Jean-Denis Garon Bloc Québécois
“Cutting the fuel tax does not help farmers or consumers. Fuel companies just keep the extra money instead of lowering their prices. I want the government to share studies on how this tax cut actually works before we vote on it.”
“Mr. Speaker, my friend, the member for Richmond—Arthabaska—des‑Sources, is attacking the Bloc Québécois. Deep down, he is soft-hearted guy, a future grandfather, and we know that he really likes us. We all want the cost of living to improve. In committee, we asked the minister whether the reduction in the excise tax was really helping to keep money in the pockets of consumers and farmers. What was really interesting about my colleague’s speech is that he said the opposite of what is taught in economics and what actually happens in the real world. He said that a farmer cannot take a day off when they are in the middle of harvesting their crop. They have to keep their machinery running and they need to fill the tanks with fuel to do that. That is exactly the kind of situation where diesel distributors will pocket the five cents from the tax on diesel. When a farmer is in the middle of harvesting their crop and goes to get diesel, what does the diesel distributor do? He pockets the excise tax, so it does not do the farmer one bit of good. Does my colleague agree that, when the government implements and extends a measure like this, it is only reasonable to expect the Department of Finance, which has had this measures in place for several months now, to provide us with studies so that we know what we are voting on?”
Mr. Speaker, my friend, the member for Richmond—Arthabaska—des‑Sources, is attacking the Bloc Québécois. Deep down, he is soft-hearted guy, a future grandfather, and we know that he really likes us. We all want the cost of living to improve. In committee, we asked the minister whether the reduction in the excise tax was really helping to keep money in the pockets of consumers and farmers. What was really interesting about my colleague’s speech is that he said the opposite of what is taught in economics and what actually happens in the real world. He said that a farmer cannot take a day off when they are in the middle of harvesting their crop. They have to keep their machinery running and they need to fill the tanks with fuel to do that. That is exactly the kind of situation where diesel distributors will pocket the five cents from the tax on diesel. When a farmer is in the middle of harvesting their crop and goes to get diesel, what does the diesel distributor do? He pockets the excise tax, so it does not do the farmer one bit of good. Does my colleague agree that, when the government implements and extends a measure like this, it is only reasonable to expect the Department of Finance, which has had this measures in place for several months now, to provide us with studies so that we know what we are voting on?