“Diesel prices are up over 80 percent, and workers in my riding cannot afford it. Liberal taxes and energy rules are driving fuel makers out of Canada. I want the government to support our plan to cut diesel taxes, remove the industrial carbon tax, and build more pipelines and refineries.”

“Mr. Speaker, I have been on my feet a number of times today. I am pleased to talk about something I asked the government about a while back as to whether the government would adopt our Conservative action plan to fix diesel prices in this country. I mentioned in my question that a guy named Steve Van Raalte from my riding was having trouble paying for fuel. He is a heavy-duty mechanic, and he has to drive around from job site to job site. This was really cutting into his bottom line. I pointed out that there are at least two companies in Alberta that are interested in developing and are working on developing a process to make diesel fuel out of natural gas. This is a pretty cool technology. I will just talk a little bit about Shell’s Pennzoil. Shell developed the ability to make engine oil out of natural gas and brought it to market commercially in 2011, so it is entirely possible. The reality is that the companies that are developing this cool technology will probably never set up in Alberta. They are developing the technology in Alberta, but they will probably set up in another jurisdiction because of the industrial carbon tax. There is no way to pay for it when they have to pay the industrial carbon tax. The other challenge they face is that the banks will not fund them, and insurance companies are not interested in funding them, because of the policies and the rhetoric that have come out of the Liberal government over the last 10 years. Interestingly, when I asked this question the week before last, I got a response from the parliamentary secretary to the housing minister, addressing housing. I did not get an answer at all about diesel prices and the things I was concerned about. The answer was shockingly out of touch. I am hoping that tonight we will actually get an answer to my question about whether the government will get out of the way and remove all the taxes on diesel fuel. Diesel prices have risen by over 80%. I would point out that the last time the price of oil was at $100 a barrel, we were paying about $1.40 a litre for diesel fuel. Today we are paying $2.44. A whole bunch of Liberal policies have been put in place that are causing this, from our money’s not being worth as much as it used to be, to our not having developed our own resources in Canada because of the stifling, leave-it-in-the-ground Liberals. We have put forward our emergency fuel plan. We want to provide emergency remittance and tax relief to companies. We want to get rid of the industrial carbon tax. We want to make sure we can get the refineries and the pipelines built. We want to be able to make sure that the energy we produce here in Canada can be used in all parts of Canada. It is crazy to every Albertan that we are the energy superpower of the world yet cannot get our energy to the east coast. We also want to make sure that we have a reserve so we can have a buffer in the price shocks that happen. I am wondering if the Liberal member can answer me. Will the Liberals be supporting our plan to get diesel prices down so guys like Steve can make enough money to put food on the table for their kids?”

• Echo ×5

  A repeated line

  “We would get rid of the industrial carbon tax.”

  Said 5 times by 5 members since May 7.

  Every time it was said →

“The government did not answer my question about the high cost of living. Government spending has lowered the value of our dollar and made life unaffordable. I want the government to drop its clean fuel standard and remove all taxes on diesel fuel.”

“Mr. Speaker, I am thankful the member found the right answer to read tonight on the right topic, but he never addressed what I asked him, which is what he had to say to Steve about the realities of living life in Canada. The member is new here, but I want to bring him back to nearly a decade ago when the Canadian dollar was worth more than the American dollar. We could afford to buy groceries for our kids. We did not need a school program to feed our kids. The government continues to do things that lower the value of our money, and that is one of the major reasons that everything costs so much more. Pouring more money into the system only inflates costs. We have talked about this endlessly. We have called for all taxes to be removed from diesel fuel. Will the Liberals commit to removing their Liberal clean fuel standard?”