Official Hansard
Mr. Speaker, it is always a true honour to stand up in the House and speak on behalf of the members of Abbotsford—South Langley, who I represent dearly. I want to start by saying that I am splitting my time with the member for Long Range Mountains, who will be speaking after me. Today, I want to talk about something that is concerning for people not only in my riding of Abbotsford—South Langley but across the country: prices at the fuel pumps. As a Conservative team, we have gotten countless emails from across the nation asking for relief at the pumps. From the countless emails that I have gotten, I have seen that many residents in Abbotsford—South Langley are frustrated when filling their tanks. Earlier this year, after constant pressure from my colleagues and I, the Liberals announced half measures up to April 20, removing the excise tax on fuel. If it had been up to them, this September we would have resumed taxes to their full extent, but once again, my Conservative colleagues and I stood up in the House and pushed for relief for all Canadians. We delivered. Earlier this month, the Conservatives announced an emergency fuel relief plan aimed at removing all federal taxes on diesel until at least Canada Day 2027. Unlike the members across the aisle, my colleagues and I believe that Canadians deserve the full relief rather than a third of the relief for a third of the year. Now Bill C-38 has been introduced, and it would extend the fuel excise tax relief until January 31, 2027. The rates would then resume to 50% of the normal amount until March 31, 2027, and the full tax would resume from April 1, 2027, onwards. This bill would provide relief of up to 10¢ per litre on gasoline and four cents on diesel. Then the relief would shrink to half from February onwards, and Canadians would get no relief starting in April 2027. Let us compare that to what we were offering early this month: full tax relief on diesel, which would have provided up to 25¢ per litre in relief until July of next year. It is clear that our plan would have brought more relief to Canadians across the nation, yet the Liberals voted against our motion. The impact of high gas prices goes well beyond families filling up at local gas stations. I think about our farmers, truckers, contractors and small business owners. Fuel is not an option for these Canadians. It is the cost of doing business. A trucker cannot deliver goods without diesel. Our farmers cannot operate equipment without diesel. Contractors cannot carry lumber and tools to a job site on public transit. For millions of Canadians, driving is not a luxury. It is a necessity for how they earn a living and go about their day to day. Just recently, B.C. truck drivers protested against rising diesel prices in the Lower Mainland. The cost of high fuel prices is affecting their day-to-day lives. Many of them are essentially working for free to pay for the fuel that they put in their tanks. Simply extending the excise tax relief is not enough for those whose livelihoods depend on the cost of gas and diesel. The foundation of our society as a whole is built on those who go about their day-to-day jobs depending on gas and diesel. We have to make sure they are able to trust that the government has their backs when things become difficult for them, especially in times like right now, when they are feeling the most pressure at the tanks from province to province across the nation. The reality is that the majority of Canadians believe that the Liberals are providing half measures of relief when they could provide full measures of relief if they were to adopt our Conservative plan. That is the truth. A recent poll found that 63% of Canadians oppose the Prime Minister bringing back the fuel excise tax, including 43% who strongly oppose it. Those numbers also include 72% of seniors, 68% of women and 61% of those who are between the ages of 35 and 54. They are all opposed to a reintroduction of diesel and fuel taxes. Opposition crosses every region across the country: 71% in Manitoba and Saskatchewan; 64% in British Columbia, Alberta and Atlantic Canada; 62% in Ontario; and 60% in Quebec. Instead of listening to Canadians and their concerns, members across the aisle want them to celebrate the half-relief they would be given for only a couple of months. It is ridiculous. I want to emphasize that any relief given for any citizen is 100% good news, and we will 100% agree with any relief the opposing government gives. However, the thing is that it had an opportunity to make sure it could support measures for 100% relief, but the government opposed this. Especially when more relief could be provided, the cost of fuel directly impacts affordability across our country. High diesel costs lead to farmers’ having to pay more for growing the food, and to truckers’ having to pay more to haul that very food across the country. Then it inflates costs, which make it down to the everyday Canadian buying products at the grocery stores. I ask members across the floor a simple question: Are they able to look a single parent in the eye during this struggle and say they brought relief to them to help put meals on the dinner table? I bet that is a hard question for many members to answer, but I ask it on behalf of all Canadians. My colleagues and I acknowledge that there is an energy crisis happening and that it is out of our control. We fully agree with that. However, while these naturally increasing prices on fuel happen, we can take many measures to help Canadians at the pumps. The first step was to adopt the plan that my Conservative colleagues and I put forward two weeks ago. That is why we continue to call on the government to remove all federal taxes on gas and diesel until at least Canada Day 2027 to save Canadians 25¢ per litre at the pump, which would bring $1,000 of relief, savings, for the average Canadian and the average family. That includes seven cents per litre of clean fuel regulations, the GST and the permanent cancellation of the industrial carbon tax so Canadians are not forced to pay more for food and fuel. While the conversation is around government relief measures, I want to also highlight the developing projects around B.C. The B.C. NDP government signed an MOU with the federal government this summer, which was a clear path for the new southern route pipeline, another route alongside the existing energy corridor through the Sumas Prairie region that brought much relief to our community and our country. However, at the same time, we need to make sure that certain vulnerabilities are protected, such as with respect to the flooding that has happened year after year. Farmers have advocated about this countless times. In 2021, when we had the immense floods in the Sumas Prairie and Abbotsford communities, we wanted to make sure we could protect certain lands and bring adequate infrastructure development forward before we had certain pipelines instituted in that area. I bring this up so all Canadians know that while we provide relief and measures for the country, we have to make sure we understand what is important. First of all, that is infrastructure relief and making sure infrastructure is coordinated with the federal government to bring in new projects that benefit all Canadians across the nation but at the same time do not damage the integrity of the Lower Mainland communities. With the measures the government is bringing forward, we need to make sure we have tax relief not just for Canadians at the pumps but across the nation. These are farmers, people with jobs, members and Canadians asking for relief again and again. They want relief at the pumps. They want results from the government. Again and again, we see the failure of representation of what Canadians actually want. I hope the government takes into account what I have said today, and I hope to get some answers.
