“I want the House to pass our motion to cut diesel taxes and build more fuel refineries in Canada. Diesel prices are too high and a shortage is coming. High fuel costs hurt farmers and truckers, which makes groceries cost more for people who are already struggling. We need to lower these taxes and make our own fuel instead of relying on other countries.”

“Mr. Speaker, before I get started, I would like to say that I am sharing my time with the member for Lethbridge. We are here talking about a motion regarding diesel prices, which are basically out of control. They are getting higher, with the potential to go even higher, and our Conservative motion is to cut diesel taxes to save Canadians money and produce more fuel here at home. We have already seen how a weakened economy over the last 10 years has made us vulnerable to tariffs, and this is going to get worse with a diesel shortage. No matter where the dispute is happening, this diesel shortage is coming, and it is going to affect Canadians in more ways than one. The Prime Minister blamed the provinces for taxes, but the Prime Minister forgot to mention his own taxes on fuel, which include the industrial carbon tax, the clean fuel regulations on diesel and the GST on diesel. I have seen this before. I was in MLA in B.C. when the Coquihalla Highway was washed out, and in turn the pipeline that was sending fuel products from Alberta to B.C. was shut down. That turned to rationing for people living in Vancouver and on Vancouver Island of 30 litres per fill-up. It was that bad, and in fact, the public safety minister at the time, Farnworth, said that it could work if people were not greedy and would not take any more. There were even travel restrictions. It got so bad that our neighbours to the south helped us out on request by shipping more fuel to Vancouver, and Alberta was doing everything it could to turn the taps back on again. This is where we are heading if we do not take this issue seriously. When we are talking about rationing fuel at a government level, a citizen is at the bottom of the list of those using fuel. The priority will be emergency service vehicles, as it was in B.C., public transit vehicles and commercial transport trucks, which are relevant here, because the cost of groceries depends on the transport of food products to the grocery stores. That is not to mention the farmers who need diesel for the harvest. None of these producers or transporters are going to absorb that cost. They are going to pass it on to the consumer, who is already struggling. Two million people are visiting food banks in Canada. The price of groceries and goods is going to go up if we do not address this in the short term, the medium term and the long term. The priority goes further, to road repair, military vehicles, critical infrastructure, home care workers and municipal service vehicles. If someone lives in a northern community like mine, municipal service vehicles matter when they want to pick up garbage or want to clear the roads and the highways of snow. Fire trucks, ambulances and B.C. first nations government service vehicles will be a priority. They were a priority during the fuel crunch back in 2022 in B.C. B.C. ferries, coast guards, tugboats, emergency vehicles, pilot boats, Canada Post, vehicles for the provision of critical government services and airport authority vehicles were all priorities at the top of the list in B.C. when we faced a fuel shortage, as were school buses, taxis, agriculture and farm-use vehicles, veterinarians supporting flood response, and intercity buses. That was a very temporary shortage of fuel that B.C. was experiencing. However, it went further. There were travel restrictions in B.C. The travel restrictions for British Columbians applied to Highway 99, Highway 3 and Highway 7, and they were enforced by the RCMP. Only approved travel was allowed. If a citizen wanted to travel to visit their family members, under the fuel crisis it was not allowed, and they could be charged. They could be charged and fined if they did not follow the fuel restrictions. There were essentials as well, including a person returning to a principal residence or an aboriginal exercising their rights as affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982. This is serious. Nobody is blaming the Liberal government for the wars or the issues happening all around the world that are causing diesel shortages globally. No one is blaming the government. We are talking about what is possible, right here and right now, to help offset the price at the pump for Canadians and help with affordability. That is all we are asking for. In fact, it is something the Conservatives have suggested before to make life more affordable for Canadians. The Liberals took up some of our Conservative ideas, like getting rid of the carbon tax, but they then turned around and said they were going to create the industrial carbon tax. It was kind of a bait-and-switch move. That industrial carbon tax applies to farmers. In terms of refining more product here, that is another old issue. During the fuel shortage in B.C., Premier Horgan himself said that we needed more refining capacity and the best place to do that was in Alberta. That is what we are talking about today. We need to cut the red tape and get more capacity to address affordability issues for Canadians. What made it absurd in B.C. was that at the time, the B.C. NDP were using every tool in the tool box to shut down the pipeline from Alberta to B.C., even though they were told that legally they could not do it and constitutionally they could not do it. They were using every tool to shut down the pipeline. The Alberta NDP, which was in power at the time, then created legislation to turn off the taps to stop fuel from flowing to British Columbia. We had the NDP fighting the NDP. What did the B.C. NDP do? They threatened to go to court. This is after B.C. was entertaining a legal challenge to stop a pipeline from Alberta to B.C. B.C. turned around and said that if Alberta shut down the pipeline that sent fuel to B.C., it was going to go to court. I was sitting in the legislature scratching my head thinking that on one hand, we did not want oil shipped to B.C., but on the other hand, we wanted the fuel to continue. The interprovincial trade barrier that the Prime Minister promised to get rid of is a lot bigger than wine. It has gotten to the point where we are talking about diversifying away from the United States, but not touching fuel products because everybody knows how interconnected we are. Yes, we produce diesel here. We could produce more, but we take crude oil and pipe it to the United States, and it turns it into fuel products like jet fuel, gasoline and diesel and sells it back to us. If we want to be an energy superpower, if we want to be more independent, we have to look at refineries. If we want to address affordability, we have to look at refineries, that supply and demand. Being part of the G7, Canada was part of that announcement saying that we were going to release more reserves to alleviate the crunch. Canada does not have reserves. I ask every member in this House to please support our motion to make life more affordable for Canadians.”

“Building that pipeline will cost taxpayers too much money. We needed to talk about fuel supply and high prices ten years ago.”

“Mr. Speaker, I think we are having the same conversation about Pacific link, but the price tag for that pipeline is going to be enormous. Who is going to pay for that? It will be the taxpayer. It is possible, but I think in terms of a crisis and talking about affordability, and the supply and demand of diesel and fuel products, this conversation is long overdue. It should have happened 10 years ago.”

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“Diesel prices are so high that truck drivers in my riding held a protest convoy to get the government's attention. People cannot afford fuel to do their jobs. I want the member to explain our Conservative plans to lower diesel prices.”

“Mr. Speaker, I know residents in the member’s riding greatly appreciate the great work that he is doing. I just want to highlight something that happened in my neck of the woods in Abbotsford—South Langley. Diesel prices are so high that truck drivers had a convoy from Abbotsford to Vancouver in the Lower Mainland to make sure they could alert the government about the high prices. Canadians are struggling to fill their tanks. They are struggling to go about their day-to-day jobs. I would just like to hear from the hon. member about the Conservative platform. What are our Conservative ideas that we could implement against high diesel prices?”

“We should get rid of taxes on fuel. We should also build more refineries and produce more fuel. When the Liberals used our ideas in the past, prices at the pump went down. Every MP's voters are asking for help with high costs, so more MPs should be speaking up about it.”

“Mr. Speaker, the member is doing a good job representing the good citizens of Abbotsford. We should get rid of the taxes on fuel, and create more supply by building more refineries and expanding the production that we currently have. If we think about it, the Liberals have actually taken our ideas before, not all of them, and not 100% of the way, but they did have an effect at the gas pump. It surprises me that only the members speaking up here on affordability are speaking on behalf of constituents. I cannot believe that every MP has not been lobbied on exactly the same issue.”

“Only the biggest global corporations can afford to do business in Canada. We want to change that, so life is more affordable and more people invest here.”

“Mr. Speaker, I am glad to hear we have a reserve for our maple syrup. Haisla had the same question. We are just a small native band. We were wondering the same thing about why Canadian investors would not invest in major projects. The simple answer came back that they cannot afford it. Only the largest multinational corporations can afford to do business in Canada. What we are trying to do on this side of the House is to change that, to make life affordable and make it more investable.”

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“I want the House to pass our plan to lower diesel costs. High diesel prices make groceries and other goods too expensive because farms, trucks, and trains all run on diesel. Our plan cuts federal taxes on diesel and helps Canada produce more fuel.”

“Mr. Speaker, when a parent stands in the checkout aisle of a local grocery store looking at the total that they can barely afford, they are not thinking about macroeconomics or global supply chain logistics. No, that is not what crosses their mind. Instead, they are looking at the price tag of a carton of milk, a loaf of bread or a bag of apples, the things that sustain their families day to day. They ask the question, “How did life become so expensive, especially in a place like Canada where we have so many resources at our disposal?” The Prime Minister once told the Canadian public that he should be judged by the prices at the grocery store. Let us do that. In fact, Canadians are judging him every single day they tap their card in order to pay for those essentials that they need, and they are watching as those prices continue to go up. The cost of everyday life is out of control, and Canadians are recognizing that. They do not need me to tell them, they do not need their member of Parliament to tell them and they do not need an economist to tell them. They experience it each and every day. Every single meal on a family’s dinner table starts on a farm. That is what needs to be understood in this conversation. It travels down a highway and then eventually makes its way to a grocery store. All of this is done on the back of a transportation truck, which of course requires fuel. That fuel is diesel. When the government drives up the price of diesel, it drives up the cost of living for every single mother, father, senior and young person across this country, no matter where they live or what type of lifestyle they enjoy. This is why Conservatives are bringing forward a smart, common-sense plan to save Canadians money. This plan is called the emergency fuel relief plan. While this plan might focus on diesel, it is in fact an affordability measure. It is actually a plan that puts the Canadian people squarely at the centre of it. A local farmer recently called me in order to express his concern over the increasing cost of diesel, which he relies on in order to put his crop in the ground and then take that crop back off. Now, the Liberal government consistently fails to understand the point he wished to make. It was that when the cost of fuel goes up, the cost of food goes up. It is actually that simple. He is right that this is the harsh reality that we face day in and day out. This is the harsh reality that Canadians face when they go to buy that bag of apples, that loaf of bread or that carton of milk. Many Canadians do not drive diesel trucks, and they do not sit behind the wheel of a large tractor or a combine. However, they understand the price on a grocery bill, and they understand the transportation that it takes in order to make its way to the shelf. Canadians are paying every step of the way because of domestic policy. Let us consider the direct supply chain that brings food and goods to our Canadian homes. Diesel powers the tractors that prepare the soil, plant the crops and harvest our food. Diesel powers the trucks that transport that fresh produce and livestock to our processing facilities and our grocery stores. Diesel powers the trains and the heavy equipment that move raw materials and keep the gears of our entire national economy moving forward. When the cost of diesel goes up, the cost of doing business also goes up. When the cost of business goes up, businesses cannot help but pass that on to the consumer, the mom, the dad, the young person who is simply going to buy groceries. Diesel prices in Canada are approximately 24¢ more per litre than in the United States of America and 31¢ a litre higher than the world average. That figure should concern every single Canadian. How can a country as rich in resources as ours be placed at such a severe disadvantage? Canada has the fourth-largest oil reserves in the world, yet our people are paying more for diesel than almost anyone else. How can that be? After 11 years of the Liberal government, the answer is clear. Federal policies such as their antidevelopment bills, Bill C-48 and Bill C-69, have systematically delayed major energy projects while piling on costs through the industrial carbon tax, the GST on fuel and other repeated tax hikes. When Ottawa penalizes domestic energy, it acts as an invisible tax on every single consumer purchase that takes place. This is why the Conservative motion puts forward a concrete four-point plan to deliver immediate savings for Canadians and guarantees that our energy independence only grows. Our plan is, firstly, to provide emergency prepermitting and tax relief for critical diesel infrastructure because we must fast-track and support the construction of refineries, pipelines, rail and storage capacity so that Canadian workers can refine Canadian oil right here at home. Secondly, we would eliminate all federal taxes on diesel consumption in order to save folks money at the pump. Thirdly, we would permanently eliminate taxes on diesel production because we must permanently scrap those federal taxes, including the industrial carbon tax, in order to take that burden off producers, truckers, farmers and, ultimately, the consumers at the grocery store. Fourthly, we must boost Canadian fuel production to one million barrels per day because we must take care of our own. I understand that this is an ambitious goal, but we must pursue it.”

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  “After 11 years of the Liberal government.”

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