Mr. Speaker, there will be economic benefits for Canadians if a contract is signed. That is my role and responsibility. I will assume my role with considerable pleasure, as usual.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 59% of the vote.
National Defence June 6th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, there will be economic benefits for Canadians if a contract is signed. That is my role and responsibility. I will assume my role with considerable pleasure, as usual.
National Defence June 6th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, as my hon. colleague has just said, there has been no agreement or transaction yet. So he is speculating on the future, before he knows what it is.
That said, as Minister of Industry, I am indeed responsible for the program of benefits for Canadians. Whatever commitment the government makes will be in keeping with our policy and ensure benefits for all Canadians.
Marine Industry June 2nd, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to tell my hon. colleague, whom I thank for his question, that the Lévis shipyard is up and running thanks to the private sector and free enterprise. As you know, we believe in creating wealth through free enterprise, and if we receive a request for additional government funding, we will consider it in due course.
Business of Supply June 1st, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to answer my honourable colleague's question.
Earlier, we finally spoke of refinery capacity in Canada. In my speech, I never said that refinery capacity in Canada had decreased. On the contrary, since 1990 it has risen by 23%. Refineries in Montreal and elsewhere in Canada have been modernized and thus the supply of refinery products is greater than in the 1990s. This can affect price at the pump.
There is a great deal of talk about taxing oil companies so that the price at the pump is as low as possible. You will see that there is no relationship between a tax on oil company profits and the price of gas at the pump.
However, there is a clear relationship between the world price of crude oil and the price of gas at the pump. The January 2006 study by the Cato Institute, covering the period between January 1984 and January 2005, clearly showed the obvious relationship between world crude oil prices and pump prices. The study concluded that 85% of changes in gas prices can be attributed to the world crude oil price. This shows us that the market is competitive.
What is rather more surprising is the Bloc Québécois assertion that the true solution may be to control or regulate prices. My colleague knows quite well that setting gas prices falls within provincial jurisdiction.
Business of Supply June 1st, 2006
Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I would like to inform you that I will share my allotted time with my colleague, the hon. member for Crowfoot.
I am pleased to have the opportunity to respond to the motion introduced by the hon. member for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup.
This motion suggests a number of measures apparently devised to counteract the effects of recent fuel price increases on consumers.
The hon. members of this House know that very few of the issues that come up for debate are of such great interest or have such a clear and direct impact on the lives of Canadians.
Every one of us has personally grappled with this issue. We have seen and felt the fluctuation of fuel prices at the pump.
Every one of our ridings has felt the impact of the current situation in its own way. We know that businesses and agricultural producers are facing increased pressure on their costs because of the worldwide increase in the price of energy. In some cases, this pressure leads to very specific challenges.
Quebeckers who have no choice but to drive long distances to get to work and elsewhere are also acutely aware of the situation.
Any one of us can cite specific examples, and I think that this is what many of my colleagues are doing today, the people who have been addressing the House today. Because there are millions of examples like this all over Canada.
However, I would suggest that we must keep this truly important question in mind: what is the real situation in terms of energy prices, whether we are talking about gas, diesel fuel, oil, propane gas, natural gas or other sources of energy?
After all, we are talking about energy, and we all know that the recent fluctuation in energy prices is not a phenomenon that is exclusive to Canada. It has also been felt everywhere in the world.
I would like to answer the question by starting with the real situation. If we leave rhetoric aside, what can we say about energy prices? Just two words: supply and demand.
In other words, there is strong demand everywhere in the world for this product, which is marketed worldwide, and this is coupled, more than ever, with uncertain supply.
The significant energy price increases we have experienced here in Canada, and everywhere in the world, are dictated by international energy market conditions, which have had obvious consequences for Canadians.
The most obvious of those consequences, of course, was Hurricane Katrina in the United States, which left devastation in its wake. Apart from the human tragedy caused by the hurricane, it also caused considerable ravages to oil refining capacity in the Gulf of Mexico, and as we know, this led to energy shortages in North America and worldwide.
It is worth asking why and how prices go up. Global demand for energy and petroleum products has reached unparalleled heights at present. China and India are rapidly climbing the ranks of the global economic powers. This is good news for the world economy, because the result is an increase in their demand for energy.
Sources of oil worldwide are finding it increasingly difficult to meet demand, and this affects Canadians.
How does it affect Canadians? As we know, we are all affected when these prices go up. After all, is Canada not also energy self-sufficient? Canada is indeed a net exporter of oil. Canada is also affected by global oil prices.
While Canada does produce a lot of oil, as I have noted, it produces only a fraction of the world’s crude oil. For all practical purposes, then, Canada has no influence on the world price of crude oil.
So, when the American production infrastructure was hit by hurricane Katrina, American companies bought crude abroad to compensate and this raised the price everywhere, including here in Canada.
Let us talk a little about the Competition Bureau.
The price Canadians pay at the pump is the result of many factors, as we know. Price setting by market forces that influence supply and demand is very instructive for producers and consumers. Price increases indicate supply restrictions. They send a clear message to producers to produce more and to consumers to consume less. Regulating prices or setting other restrictions would cloud these indicators and thus lead to poor resource allocation, which ends up hurting all consumers.
This is why businesses are usually free to set their price based on what the market will bear. The Competition Bureau is concerned about high prices only when they are the result of anti-competitive activities contrary to the Competition Act.
As we know and as all of my colleagues know, since 1990, the Competition Bureau has conducted six major investigations of the gasoline industry. In each instance it found no evidence that the periodic increases in gasoline prices were the result of national collusion intended to limit competition in Canada. No, in each case, the Competition Bureau confirmed that supply and demand, that the free market in energy was working.
It is important to note that, taxes aside, gas prices in Canada still compare favourably with those in other industrialized countries.
The motion before us expressly demands that a surtax on oil company profits be created. However, I do not see how increasing these companies' operating costs by imposing a surtax would alleviate the rise in prices at the pump, because as I explained earlier, these prices depend on global supply and demand.
It is easy to cry out for a tax on profits, but we have to consider the actual situation people are in.
Suppose we have to drive long distances every day. Would imposing a tax on the oil companies reduce our travel expenses and the cost of gas? Would it mean a lower price per litre at the pump? Would it improve our vehicle's energy efficiency?
We can only conclude that a tax increase like the one proposed in this morning's motion will not produce results, especially the expected results.
We will hear people in this House call on the federal government to impose controls or regulate prices. Apart from the economic arguments, there is also a constitutional argument against this. By virtue of the property rights and civil rights enshrined in the Constitution, which come under provincial jurisdiction, the federal government has no authority to regulate prices. However, regulating prices would not solve the problem. Because of other economic factors, regulating prices will not reduce the price at the pump.
I repeat, regulating prices will not have any effect on prices at the pump.
I will conclude with a comment. A lot of ideas are being floated these days about how to relieve the pressure that the prices of gas, heating oil and energy in general put on Canadians. But we need to talk about what we can do, and we need to talk in full knowledge of the facts, keeping in mind the actual impact on Canadians and our economy. The answers do not lie in the motion put forward by my opposition colleague.
Tourism Industry June 1st, 2006
Mr. Speaker, as Minister of Industry, I am very proud and very pleased to work with the Minister of International Trade. He is an important asset to this government. The proof of this is the agreement that was reached on softwood lumber. This agreement is a tremendous success for Canada and for workers, and we owe it to the Minister of International Trade and the Prime Minister.
Price of Gasoline June 1st, 2006
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member must know that, on two occasions in 2003 and 2005, the same parliamentarians voted in committee to the effect that there was no collusion in gas pricing in Canada and that the free market was functioning well. On six occasions, the Competition Bureau also decided, upon investigation, that the free market was working well in the Canadian petroleum sector.
Price of Gasoline June 1st, 2006
Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague must know that the price of gas is set on international markets and that is what is important. It is the free market that causes prices to fluctuate.
In fact, the price of gas is a little higher today than it was a few days ago. However, according to historic data, in the 1980s, the price of gas in today's dollars was even higher than it is today.
Softwood Lumber June 1st, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I would invite my hon. colleague to come to Beauce, where our forest industry is working very well and is very productive. The people in Beauce, like all forest producers in Canada, are very happy with this agreement.
Why are they happy? Because we have guaranteed all Canadian producers access to a free market with no duties or quotas. We have guaranteed a prosperous future for all forest industry workers.
Softwood Lumber June 1st, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to rise today to tell all Canadians that in 80 days, the new government did more than the former government had done in 13 long years. Yes, this is a historic agreement. It was approved by the majority of producers and by all consumers, and it ensures that the forestry industry will have a future under this government.