Official Hansard
Mr. Speaker, today I am going to talk about a subject that directly concerns the wallets of Canadians, Quebeckers and, obviously, the people of Beauce. I am going to talk about diesel prices, which have an impact on our families, on inflation, on the cost of groceries and on our constituents’ abilities to make ends meet. To begin, I would like to talk about my magnificent region, Beauce. Beauce is a region of entrepreneurs, builders, manufacturers and, of course, farmers. Beauce is the entrepreneurial capital of Canada. It is home to proud, and even very proud, people who work hard. The people of Beauce are job creators and wealth creators. In my riding, entrepreneurs do not wait for the government to move forward. They wait for neither government money nor, above all, subsidies. In Beauce, we work together, support one another and stand united. The people of Beauce are asking the government to stop putting obstacles in their way through the layers of red tape created by the Liberals over the past 11 years. Today, one of those obstacles is the cost of fuel. Diesel is a tool of the trade in Beauce. It powers tractors, farm equipment and delivery trucks, and it is an important part of the regional economy. When the cost of diesel goes up, it is not just another bill; the effects ripple through the economy and drives inflation. When I meet with farmers from Beauce, whether in Saint‑Isidore, Saint‑Éphrem‑de‑Beauce, Saint‑Victor, Saint‑Gédéon‑de‑Beauce or elsewhere in my riding, they all tell me the same thing: Their production and operating costs are skyrocketing. Over the past year, they have had to cope with periods when the price of diesel nearly doubled. Imagine a farmer who suddenly has to pay almost twice as much to run his machinery. He cannot simply decide not to cultivate his fields. He cannot stop feeding his livestock. He cannot stop producing the food that Canadians need. He has to keep going as well as keep paying his bills. According to estimates by the UPA, the Union des producteurs agricoles, the rise in diesel prices could cost Quebeckers as much as an additional $200 million. That is $200 million in Quebec alone. The worst part is that this money is not being invested in farms. It is not being used to buy new equipment or create jobs. This $200 million will directly drive inflation. The cost always ends up being passed along the supply chain. The cost of diesel does not stop at the farm gate. It follows the produce. It follows the truck. It follows the distribution network. Ultimately, it is passed on in the price paid by consumers. The producer is the first to absorb the increase. That is always how it goes. However, it is always Canadian families who foot the bill in the end. That is why I am pleased to see that the government has finally decided to defer the excise tax on gasoline. However, let us be clear that this did not happen by chance. It happened because Conservatives spent months pressuring the government to do it. We asked the government to stop adding to Canadians’ tax burden. We asked the government to recognize that families had had enough. Now the Liberals are finally being forced to acknowledge that reducing fuel taxes, which was not possible a few months ago, can help bring down the cost of living. They found a calculator and realized that it could lower prices. That is good news, but it is not enough. A cost-of-living crisis cannot be resolved with temporary half measures. Our Conservative proposal is clear: eliminate all federal taxes on gas and diesel until July 1, 2027. This includes the excise tax, the GST on fuel and regulatory costs that contribute to higher prices. We are also calling for the permanent elimination of industrial carbon pricing. We need to grant emergency permits and tax relief for refinery construction so we can boost diesel production to one million barrels per day and thereby increase supply to meet demand. We estimate that these measures could save each family nearly $1,000 a year. I want to emphasize something. I am talking about both diesel and gasoline. Cutting the cost of gasoline helps families get around, spend time with their families and travel, but lowering the cost of diesel also helps reduce the cost of producing and distributing almost everything we consume. I would now like to talk about something that is particularly close to my heart: the impact of diesel on food inflation. For several years now, Canadians have been seeing higher grocery bills. They have to make choices they should never have needed to make. Seniors are having to choose between certain food products and other essentials. Meanwhile, we continue to hear all sorts of explanations for this increase. There is talk about producers, processors, wholesalers, distributors and retailers, but who can really explain to Canadians where these increases are in the food supply chain and, most importantly, who is benefiting? Those are the questions we have to ask ourselves. I am particularly proud to make an announcement today in the House. At the request of my colleague, the member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith, I have agreed to serve on a special committee focused on the supply chain and food inflation. Why is that important to me? It is simple. It is because I know the industry. I spent 30 years of my life working in the grocery sector and across the entire supply chain. I am familiar with these realities and these challenges and, more importantly, I have worked at every stage of the supply chain. I grew up in a farming family, worked on the supplier side for 15 years, worked in distribution and worked with wholesalers. Now, I also understand the reality of the final link in the chain, that is, the point of sale. At every stage, there are costs involved. At every stage, business decisions have to be made. At every stage, prices might have to go up. Where are the costs really going up? What increases are justified? Which companies are absorbing higher costs and which ones are passing them on to consumers? I truly believe in transparency, and when millions of Canadians are struggling to pay for groceries, they deserve answers. That is what we want. I can assure the House that we will leave no stone unturned. I intend to put my 30 years of experience to work for the public in this effort. There is one thing that I think is especially important in the debate on diesel. The government is talking about inflation as though it were an abstract phenomenon, as though prices just magically appear on items on store shelves. However, behind every price is an economic reality. There is a farmer who has to pay for diesel, a business that has to pay for power, a trucker that transports goods, a retailer who has to pay their employees, pay their electricity bill, buy equipment and fund their operations. That is why the cost of fuel is so important. Diesel is like the blood flowing through the veins of our economy. We do not have to like it. People may not like it, but that is a fact of life. That is how it is. When the price of diesel goes up, the strain is felt everywhere: on our farms, in our factories, on our roads, in our businesses and at the grocery store checkout. That is why the government needs to stop treating taxes on fuel as simply a tax issue. This is a matter of competitiveness, food security, purchasing power and respect for those who feed our country. We welcome the Liberal government’s backtracking on rising gas prices, but we are not going to stop there. We will continue to fight to eliminate federal taxes on gas and diesel. We will continue to stand up for our farmers. We will continue to stand up for our manufacturers.
