Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to our witnesses.
Dr. Cochrane, I'd like to start with you.
I do appreciate the work that Canadians for Tax Fairness does, and I'd like to thank you for your opening remarks, particularly for highlighting oil and gas profits.
You heard my colleague, Mr. Barlow, talk about the price on carbon. Certainly we hear a lot about that from the Conservatives, but what we don't talk about enough is the insane profit margin of oil and gas companies. We have a document that was submitted to us by Mr. Jim Stanford. It shows that, since 2019, the change in annual net income of oil and gas companies has been 1,011%. That's $38 billion in net profit.
We know, of course, that fossil fuels are necessary on the farm. Farmers do get an exemption because of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act. There are exemptions for agricultural activities, but, when it comes to freight and everything that's needed, of course fossil fuels are necessary.
Dr. Cochrane, can you put into context what that kind of an insane profit increase over the last three years is doing to affordability for struggling Canadian families right now?