“I support this temporary tax cut on fuel, but it does not go far enough. The government should also get rid of the carbon tax to lower diesel prices. Canadians pay 25 cents more per litre for diesel than Americans do. Cheaper diesel means cheaper food and goods for everyone.”

“Madam Speaker, it is common sense. Canadians are going through tough times. Even with this temporary relief, the government would not be giving them what Conservatives have asked for. For the long term, if the government gets rid of the carbon tax, then the diesel price could be pretty low. We are paying 25¢ per litre more than U.S. consumers are paying across the border for diesel. Everything depends on the price of diesel, because everything from groceries to construction goods has to be trucked or otherwise transported. If we can lower the cost of diesel, we can bring costs down.”

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“We want to pause the fuel tax until July 1, 2027. The Liberals copied our idea to lower costs, but they did it poorly. Canadians need a break on fuel prices.”

“Madam Speaker, Conservatives are pretty clear that we want temporary relief until July 1, 2027, Canada Day. As I said in my speech, Conservatives are happy to see the Liberals steal more of our ideas on affordability, but we are disappointed to see that they are poorly implementing them. Our humble request is to please give Canadians a break so they can live their life.”

“I support this bill to keep fuel taxes low, but it does not go far enough. High fuel prices make food and everyday basics cost too much for families and small businesses. The government should pause fuel taxes and the GST on gas until at least July 2027, and pay for it by cutting government waste.”

“Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my colleague from Calgary Heritage. It is an honour to rise in the House on behalf of the people of Calgary McKnight. Canada is facing serious challenges, both around the world and here at home. Our economy is under pressure, and our relationships with other countries are changing. Energy plays a big role in all of this. That is why today’s debate in the House is so important. Gasoline gets Canadians to work and their children to school. It gets seniors to medical appointments and tradespeople to their next job. Diesel powers the farm equipment that grows our food, and the trucks that bring it to our grocery stores. It moves lumber and concrete to construction sites so workers can build the homes we need. It fuels the buses that carry commuters across our cities. The price of fuel is more than just a number on a gas station sign. It affects the cost of the products we use every day. When fuel costs rise, Canadians feel it far beyond the pump. They feel it at the grocery checkout, when they buy their children’s school clothes and when they pick up everyday basics such as bread and milk. For too many families, the pressure of rising food prices has become a crisis. Nearly one in four Canadians, about 10 million people, now lives in a food-insecure household. Families are being forced to make difficult choices. One in five people has skipped meals or reduced portion sizes because of financial pressure, and nearly half have cut back on meat, dairy and fresh produce. Alarmingly, women, single-parent households and people with disabilities are among those most affected by rising food costs. Like me, many people in northeast Calgary came to Canada for the opportunity to build a better life. They came here to work hard, raise their family and start a small business, but after 11 years of Liberal policies, life has become harder and more expensive. Seniors on a fixed income are struggling to pay for food and fuel. Small businesses depend on fuel to receive supplies and serve their customers. Northeast Calgary is a major transportation hub, and truck drivers are spending more at the pump and taking less money home to their family. The Liberals should be making it easier for these people to earn a living, not planning to bring fuel taxes back. Higher fuel costs also affect the decisions small businesses make about their future. A trucking company that spends more on diesel has less money to replace an aging truck, maintain its equipment or hire another driver. A small business owner may delay expanding because there is simply not enough money left. Businesses cannot plan for growth when the Liberals keep adding to their costs. For years, Conservatives have warned that high taxes and unnecessary red tape drive investments out of our country. When a company takes its investment elsewhere, Canadian workers lose jobs and opportunities that investment could have created. We cannot afford to lose more. The government should be lowering costs so businesses can grow here, hire here and build their future here. Conservatives have long called on the Liberals to lower taxes and let Canadians keep more of what they earn. For years we demanded an end to the consumer carbon tax. After defending it at every turn, the Liberals finally removed it, but that still left other federal taxes and costs on fuel in place. These included the excise tax of 10¢ per litre on gasoline and four cents per litre on diesel, the GST, costs imposed by the clean fuel regulations, and the industrial carbon tax. Earlier this year, Conservatives renewed our call for fuel tax relief. We called on the Liberals to suspend the excise tax and the GST on gas and diesel for the rest of 2026, and to permanently scrap the clean fuel regulations and the industrial carbon tax. The Liberals adopted only part of our plan. They suspended the fuel excise tax, but only until Labour Day. Conservatives pressured the Liberals to extend that relief because families and businesses could not afford to see those costs return. Bill C-38 would extend the full suspension until January 31, 2027. Half the tax would return on February 1, followed by the full tax on April 1. I welcome a few more months of relief for Canadians, but what happens after January 31? Families will still need to drive to work. Truckers will still need to deliver goods. Small businesses will still need to serve their customers. Conservatives will support Bill C-38 because every dollar Canadians save matters, but we are calling on the Liberals to go further: extend the fuel excise tax suspension and remove the GST on gas and diesel until at least Canada Day 2027. We are also calling on the Liberals to permanently scrap the clean fuel regulations and the industrial carbon tax, to give families and businesses relief that lasts beyond the next few months. Our plan would keep the 10¢ excise tax off every litre of gasoline, remove eight cents in GST and eliminate seven cents in costs from the clean fuel regulations. That adds up to approximately 25¢ per litre, or $20 on an 80-litre fill-up. The Liberals have a responsibility to pay for this relief by putting their own spending in order. They cannot keep adding to the deficit and leaving further generations to pay the bill. Conservatives have called for reductions in wasteful spending on consultants, bureaucracy and programs that do not deliver value for taxpayers. Families across Canada are reviewing every expense to make ends meet. They deserve a government that is willing to examine its own expenses with the same care. Canadians need more than a few months of relief, and Conservatives will keep fighting until the Liberals adopt our full plan to lower fuel costs and leave more money in the pockets of Canadians.”

“Liberal spending and high taxes caused our affordability crisis and made life harder for Canadians. This temporary fuel tax cut is just a band-aid. The government needs to cut wasteful spending, lower taxes, and make a real long-term plan to help people afford life.”

“Madam Speaker, years of deficit spending and high taxes have added to inflation, driven investment away and made life harder for Canadians. Now the Liberals are offering a band-aid for an affordability crisis that their own policy helped create. They need to stop the bleeding by cutting wasteful spending and lowering the taxes they imposed on families and businesses. Canadians deserve a long-term plan for relief so that they can afford the basics and get ahead.”

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“Canadians need relief from high gas prices, and cutting taxes is the best way to help. But the government's tax cut only lasts a few months. I want to know what Conservatives would do instead of using temporary fixes.”

“Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech on gas affordability, which is fundamental to our economy, as he indicated in his speech. However, this is temporary relief, lasting only until, I think, January of next year, just a few months from now. After that, it is going to go back up again. This is relief that Canadians need. What better way is there to give it than to reduce taxes? What comfort can we give to our constituents that this relief is not just going to disappear? I guess my question is, what would Conservatives do in place of what the Liberals are doing right now with their band-aid solutions?”

“Short-term tax breaks make it hard for businesses to plan ahead. I want fuel tax and GST relief to last until at least Canada Day 2027. I also want the government to permanently remove clean fuel rules and the industrial carbon tax.”

“Madam Speaker, businesses need to plan their deliveries and equipment purchases and hire well in advance. Repeated short-term extensions make those decisions harder when owners are already facing uncertain costs. Conservatives are calling for the excise tax and GST relief to be in place until at least Canada Day 2027, along with the permanent removal of the clean fuel regulations and the industrial carbon tax. That would provide a longer period of relief while removing other costs permanently.”

“Seniors should be able to afford basic necessities. Their benefits should rise with inflation to match the real cost of living. Government taxes and rising costs have hurt seniors and their savings. The government needs to lower taxes and cut the deficit to bring down everyday costs.”

“Madam Speaker, seniors, who have worked hard their entire lives, should be able to afford basic necessities. Their benefits should be indexed to inflation so they keep pace with the real cost of living. However, years of Liberal taxes and rising costs have eroded seniors’ purchasing power and stressed their savings. The government needs to cut the deficit and lower taxes to help bring down everyday costs so that seniors can live with dignity.”

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“I support this bill because pausing the fuel tax helps families, but the government must do more. Canadians pay too much for diesel because of federal taxes and regulations. The government should remove all federal taxes on diesel until Canada Day, end the carbon taxes, and approve more pipelines and refineries.”

“Madam Speaker, I would like to take a quick minute to note that Canada mourns four of its soldiers. On Saturday, fire overtook a training exercise at CFB Wainwright, as we all know. Thirty-nine soldiers were injured, some critically, and four soldiers were killed: Sergeant Morgan Wong, Private Shaun Farrell, Private Aidan Goulding and Private Hayden Lykkemark. At CFB Wainwright, Canadian soldiers train to defend our country. They serve alongside allies and uphold the values that bind Canadians together: courage, duty, sacrifice and service. Their loss belongs to the whole nation. To their families, their comrades, the injured and those who rushed to help, Canada owes them our gratitude, our prayers and our lasting support. On behalf of the people of Calgary Heritage, we will remember these soldiers for how they lived: in service to their country, in loyalty to each other and with the quiet courage of those who accept responsibility for others. In Calgary Heritage, the work trucks leave the yards in the southwest before dawn. They haul materials to job sites across the city, and then turn south past the city city limits where the farms begin. Those same diesel engines pull the tractors that put the seeds in the ground and the combines that bring the crops home. When the price at the pump moves, the arithmetic hits the operator first, then the grocer and then the family filling a cart on a Saturday afternoon. Last month, diesel reached a record $2.75 a litre. Even after the spike eased, it was still averaging roughly $2.64. That is about 70% higher than a year earlier and nearly 60% higher than the weeks before the war in Iran began interrupting shipments out of the Persian Gulf. Global events explain why prices rose everywhere. They do not explain why Canadians are paying roughly 24¢ a litre more than Americans and about 31¢ more than the world average. The difference is not geology; it is policy. Statistics Canada reports that gasoline prices have risen 27.8% over the past year, energy costs 19% and transportation 8.4%. Diesel is a cost of living issue, because it is a cost of making and moving nearly everything. Every increase reaches the family filling a grocery cart. Bill C-38 would extend the temporary suspension of the federal excise tax on diesel until the end of January. Conservatives will support it. Every dollar that stays in a working family’s pocket matters. We fought for the first cut. We fought for the extension. The Liberals followed. The bill would still place an expiry date on relief: Half the tax returns in February and the full rate returns on April 1. Also, the GST continues to apply, and the clean fuel regulations continue to add costs that the government’s own officials estimate at six to seven cents a litre today. The Parliamentary Budget Officer projects it could reach 16¢ by 2030. The industrial carbon tax also continues to raise the cost of production. Taken together, these measures leave Canadians paying a premium that global markets alone cannot justify. A round-trip semi-haul between Montreal and Toronto that cost about $850 on New Year’s Day now costs roughly $1,400. Rail fuel surcharges for October stand as high as 73% above early August levels. Some large farms are spending as much as $5,000 a day on diesel. Independent grocers operate on margins of about 2%. Those costs do not stay on the loading dock. They appear on the shelf. The leader of the opposition put the same facts before the House on September 23 and again the following day. He described a full-scale diesel crisis. He noted that with the fourth-largest oil supply on earth, we do not enjoy the lowest prices. He identified three persistent causes: a weaker dollar, insufficient refining and transport capacity because governments have refused to get out of the way, and taxes that continue to apply. He called for an emergency fuel relief plan that would remove all federal taxes on diesel until at least Canada Day, permanently eliminate production taxes and set a national goal of producing one million barrels of diesel a day. Those are the measures on this side of the House that were advanced in successive opposition motions. Each time, the government and its partners have voted them down. Just last week, the International Energy Agency warned that global diesel shortages could persist well into 2027. Why is the Liberal government scheduling higher fuel taxes while the crisis remains unresolved? Conservatives support Bill C-38 because partial relief is better than none. We will continue to press for the full plan: removing the remaining federal taxes on diesel until at least Canada Day; scrapping the clean fuel regulations and the industrial carbon tax; and clearing the path for the pipelines, refineries and storage that would let Canadian diesel reach Canadian markets. The objective is simple: eliminate the premium Canadians now pay; raise domestic production; and ensure that the fuel that moves our food, our freight and our families is made here and priced here. A decade of Liberal carbon taxes and expanding bureaucracy have eroded the gains of Conservative GST cuts and smaller government from over a decade ago. Canada has the fourth-largest oil reserves, and we should be among the best-prepared nations to withstand an energy shock. Instead, our 16 refineries operated at roughly 90% of capacity last year. Ontario and Quebec refineries import more than 99% of their crude from the United States, while 93% of the crude we export moves south. There is still no pipeline connecting western Canada to eastern Canada. Energy east, proposed in 2013 and withdrawn in 2017, would have closed that gap. It was stopped not by markets but by a deliberate policy of obstruction that treated major energy infrastructure as something to be delayed or defeated. The last new refinery, Sturgeon in Alberta, took years and more than $10 billion. New capacity requires permits, pipelines, storage and a regulatory environment that treats builders as partners instead of as adversaries. How did a country so abundantly endowed allow itself to become so vulnerable? Russia’s invasion has cut diesel exports and weaponized energy. Iran has turned Hormuz into an instrument of coercion while funding proxies across the Middle East. Conflict threatens the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal. Venezuela’s collapse has removed another major supplier. In a world of energy chaos, Canada could be instrumental in achieving energy security, security for our people and security for the world. Imagine if over the last decade, and especially from a year and a half ago, Liberals had made energy security a national undertaking: prepermitted projects, partnerships with first nations, approved pipelines to new markets with shovels in the ground today, more refining, and transport and storage ready for this age of disruption. Imagine Canadian energy reaching our provinces and allies at scale because we had built the means to move it. Instead, the Prime Minister declares that Canada will become an energy superpower while preserving the net-zero orthodoxy and antidevelopment machinery that has held Canadian production back. The United States holds a strategic petroleum reserve. After major withdrawals, it has fallen to approximately less than 20% of its accessible capacity. Today the United States is searching for diesel in all the wrong places. Canada could have stabilized supply had we built capacity before the emergency. That is why Conservatives have proposed a strategic reserve of refined fuels and emergency prepermitting for refineries, for our growth as a country. I appreciate the opportunity to address the House today and conclude my remarks here.”

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“In my riding, we pay $2 a litre for gas, which is 55 cents more than Calgary. That happens because we send Alberta oil to Washington state to be refined and buy it back. I am asking my colleague to talk about the need to invest in infrastructure.”

“Madam Speaker, I am very happy that my colleague from Calgary Heritage raised the issue of refining capacity within Canada. It is certainly an issue in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, where my riding is and where I live. We sell crude produced in Alberta, which gets piped across the Rocky Mountains. We sell it to refineries in Washington state at reduced costs. They refine it, and then we buy it back at market value. We are paying two dollars a litre, which is 55¢ a litre more than in Calgary. I wonder if my colleague could comment on the importance of infrastructure investment.”

“Energy projects protect our national security. China uses trade as a weapon, and other countries are building energy facilities quickly. Canada is not keeping up, and we need the infrastructure to get our resources to market.”

“Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague’s commentary a great deal, as well as the great work he does on behalf of his constituents every single day. Energy infrastructure is critical to our national security. This is a world in which commerce has been weaponized by Beijing and in which our supply chains, our investment, our technology and our energy are all interwoven together. How those supply chains stabilize international markets and unleash productivity in this country is critical. We actually need the infrastructure to get our resources to market. We have watched our rivals around the world, and even our partners, proceed at incredible speed. We have watched massive energy production facilities emerging in Beijing and around China. We have watched the world respond to that, with refineries and plant capacity out of the United States and with terminals in Germany to be able to take LNG. We have seen massive undertakings in the last number of years, but in Canada, we have not been moving at the same pace.”

“My party supports building more oil refineries in Canada. It will create jobs for Canadians and help our country rely on its own energy.”

“Madam Speaker, our party stands for building more refining capacity to generate more value in Canada for Canadian jobs, for Canadian workers and for Canadians. Our country should be more self-reliant when it comes to our energy proposition for the world, and our capability to do so is evident in our people, our industry and our ingenuity.”

“I will vote for this bill to keep pausing the fuel tax, but it is not enough. High fuel prices make everything from food to shipping cost more. We also need to grow wages, build our own refineries, and fix our economy so life is truly affordable.”

“Madam Speaker, before I start speaking to the act to amend the Excise Tax Act, I just want to reflect for a moment on the four Canadian Armed Forces members who were killed in a training exercise at CFB Wainwright over the weekend: Sergeant Morgan Wong from Alberta, Private Shaun Farrell of Saskatchewan, Private Aidan Goulding of North Vancouver, British Columbia, and Private Hayden Lykkemark from my hometown, Langley, British Columbia. I offer my condolences to their families, their friends and their fellow soldiers. Of course, our prayers continue for the 39 people who were injured. We wish them all the best. I will be sharing my time with the member for Oshawa. Today we are talking about the Canadian fuel affordability act. Canadians should understand why Bill C-38 exists in the first place and why it is here and being debated. The legislation was introduced by the Liberals, but it was not the Liberals’ idea. This bill exists because Canadians pushed back and Conservatives fought for them. We fought for them because we understand that the affordability crisis hits home. Certainly, people in my riding are telling me about that. For months, Conservatives warned that rising fuel prices during an affordability crisis would make life more expensive for families, tradespeople and commuters. The Liberals insisted that higher fuel taxes would not significantly impact affordability, but today, after months of pressure, they are effectively admitting what Canadians already knew: taxes on fuel matter. It matters a lot, because it is inflationary. When fuel costs go up, everything goes up: trucking, farming, delivering, manufacturing and processing. All these costs get passed on to consumers, and that is why Conservatives support extending the fuel tax suspension. Any relief for working Canadians is good news. Let us be honest. Bill C-38 would not solve the underlying problems of our current affordability crisis. It would simply extend temporary relief before these taxes would eventually return in a matter of a couple of months. Canadians do not need temporary Liberal band-aid solutions. They need a government that understands affordability and recognizes that families are already stretched to the limit. Bill C-38 would be a step in the right direction, but it would be a small step. Conservatives will keep fighting for lower costs, lower taxes and a more affordable Canada. Let us talk about what fuel prices mean in the real world. Today, drivers in British Columbia pay the highest gasoline prices in Canada. According to my research on GasBuddy yesterday, regular gasoline in Langley is roughly two dollars a litre. I know that is what I paid. In Calgary, it is about $1.45 a litre. In Hamilton, it is about $1.70. Imagine a family that drives a pickup truck or an SUV with a 100-litre tank. To fill up in Langley costs $200. In Calgary, it is also expensive but $55 less. In Hamilton, it is also expensive at $170 but $30 less than what we pay in Langley. For many working Canadians, this is not just a one-time investment. It is not even a monthly investment. It is a weekly expense, week after week. We can imagine all the thousands of dollars extra that British Columbians are paying compared with other Canadians, and that amounts to thousands of dollars every year that could better go toward groceries, mortgage payments, kids’ sports or retirement investment savings. That is why Conservatives continue to argue that the government should stop treating gasoline and diesel as a source of tax collection. Canadians deserve relief. They deserve a government that understands just how fuel prices affect everyday life. There is an important lesson that often gets missed in the affordability crisis. Affordable living is not just about prices. It is also about income. I am going to take just one example. In Bellingham, Washington, about an hour’s drive from Vancouver, gasoline prices are often similar to what drivers in metro Vancouver pay, yet fuel generally is more affordable for Americans. That is because affordability is ultimately determined by purchasing power. Two people can pay the same price at the gas pump, but if one earns significantly more, fuel consumes a smaller portion of their paycheque. That is the challenge that Canadians are facing today, and I would say that this is right across the board, right across the country. Canadians are not just dealing with high prices. After 10 years of Liberal Party mismanagement of our economy, we are dealing with stubbornly weak productivity growth, slower wage growth and declining purchasing power. That is what we have after a decade of the Liberals. The former Liberal finance minister recognized this as a problem. I heard her say in the House once, during one of her budget speeches, that Canada’s lagging productivity measures is Canada’s Achilles heel. I guess she tried to convince her fellow colleagues that it was a problem, but they continued focusing on the distribution of wealth rather than growing the Canadian economy. That is still the problem we have today. Yes, lower fuel taxes help and affordability relief matters, but Canadians need something bigger. They need a stronger productivity growth. They need more investment. They need better-paying jobs. The goal should not be just to make us less poor with a temporary band-aid solution. The goal should be to make prosperity possible again. That is what Conservatives focus on. Canadians are asking a very reasonable question: Why are Canadians selling raw resource material at a discount to Americans only to buy refined product back at market value? There are two reasons. One is that the Lower Mainland does not have enough refining capacity to fill the demand for gasoline, fuel and diesel. The second is because, with the lack of market diversification for Canada, we have one buyer for a product and that is the Americans. Therefore, we are price takers, not price setters. We sell crude oil produced in Alberta to the Americans at reduced prices and we buy back a refined product at fair market value. It is the opposite of what financial advisers tell us, which is to buy low and sell high. We do the opposite with our energy economics. Just across the border sits the Cherry Point Refinery near Blaine, one of the largest refineries in the northwest. Much of the crude oil process in Washington state originates here in Canada and is refined there. It comes back to us as finished product. That means higher prices at the pump, fewer Canadian jobs, less investment, lower government revenues and weaker economic growth. Canadians should not wonder why one of the world’s richest countries in energy production struggles to fully benefit from its own resources. Affordability is not just about taxes, but about infrastructure, energy policy, market access and ensuring Canadians benefit from their own resources. Bill C-38 provides some welcome relief, but Conservatives are fighting for something much bigger. The real issue is not simply the cost of gasoline, but the cost of living. Canadians are working hard, playing by the rules, doing everything they were told to do that would lead to success, yet too many are falling behind. The price of fuel is behind most of the inflationary pressure. Canadians deserve a government that understands how these costs compound. That is why Conservatives support fuel tax relief. We will vote for this bill, even though we think it is not enough. It is a small step in the right direction. Our objective is lower taxes, higher wages, more investments, stronger economic growth and greater energy security for Canadians. Conservatives will bring back the Canadian promise that a good job would buy an affordable home, on a nice street, in a safe neighbourhood, with a fridge full of affordable food, and a car in the carport with affordable fuel.”

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“We support policies that improve the economy. The Liberals have mismanaged money for ten years. Now the government spends billions on interest payments to bankers instead of spending it on health care and seniors.”

“Madam Speaker, we support the fundamentals that are going to improve our economy. One thing that we never hear from the Liberals is how much money the federal government spends on interest payments. This is money going to bankers and investors, money that could be going to health care, health transfers or helping seniors, but, no, we spend billions and billions of dollars on interest payments because of 10 years of mismanagement by the government.”

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