Thank you, Chair.
I'll reread what the environment minister said, “Our government”— meaning the Liberal government—“has made a decision to stop investing in new road infrastructure.”
Can you imagine that? A minister of the Crown...and his government actually backs it up. Justin Trudeau and the Liberals have backed up that statement. That is very disturbing, and it is a direct attack on rural Canada.
Let me be very clear. There are three policies that are hammering rural Canada. The first one is increasing the carbon tax by 23% on April 1. By increasing the carbon tax, the commissioner's already said it...and there are various agencies all across government that have acknowledged that, disproportionately, rural Canadians are being impacted by the carbon tax. They know that, and this government keeps on marching on with increasing that carbon tax.
The second one is banning gas-powered vehicles. That's another thing this minister....That's the goal—in 2035 we're going to have no more gas-powered vehicles in Canada. It's going to create a whole great shortage in Canada.
The third one is that we now have a minister saying we're not building any more roads and highways. Why not?
We know rural Canada and the rest of Canada needs highways to move around. We're a vast country. We need to move our goods. We need to make a living in Canada. We don't go anywhere without getting on a road in Canada, and this government wants to just get out of that and stop producing any types of roads. It's absolutely insane.
This is why this radical environment minister should be stopped. This is why we're bringing this motion forward. This is why you should go along with this, instead of talking against me, trying to draw me out and ignoring me. You should be paying attention.