Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning. Thank you for being with us this morning. The warm hospitality we got here last night and today is something that Atlantic Canadians are known for. We felt it here, so thank you for that.
I am from the other Cornwall, not the local one here but from Cornwall in eastern Ontario.
I appreciated the opening comments. They have been very good for the record and for the committee and the government to consider for the budget.
I had the chance to be on the Island earlier this summer. I visited Charlottetown, Souris, Wood Island, O'Leary and Alberton, and I heard a lot of very similar concerns, particularly around the cost of living inflation. A few have alluded to—which is great—the strain that the federal carbon tax is putting on the cost of business and the cost of living here in the province and right across the country.
Ms. Griffin, in your role at the chamber of commerce, one thing you mentioned in your comments was the federal carbon tax being an added cost to businesses here in P.E.I. One of the challenges that we have is actually convincing the government and those who are supporters not only of the current carbon tax but of increasing it that, when it's all said in done in the coming years, it could be as high as 61¢ per litre in the price of fuel.
Could you just confirm for the record that your members have confirmed that the federal carbon tax is adding to the cost of doing business in P.E.I.?