Absolutely, Chair. We're talking about division, and I think it's important that folks understand the carve-outs that have happened with respect to the carbon tax around this country. That has created significant division, and the division, of course, is related directly to energy security. Of course, now the tidal power project has been cancelled by the lack of direction provided by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. It was a significant glimmer of hope for Atlantic Canadians to allow them and us—I'll include myself there—to become energy-independent. This is a significant division-creating area for all of us in Atlantic Canada, based on the policies of this NDP-Liberal coalition government.
When I asked Sustainable Marine whether they would consider coming back, how this gentleman worded it was, “You know, if you threw me a lifeline, I would probably climb up the rope.” That says a lot for the gentleman and for Sustainable Marine to be looking at how to harness tidal power as an energy source, which would be a tremendous feat.
As I said, the largest tides in the world are in the Bay of Fundy. If we could possibly do that, which they were well on their way to doing, then that would change the landscape. We wouldn't need to be talking about the divisive policies of the NDP-Liberal government here in Ottawa, because Atlantic Canadians would not be requiring carve-outs, because they continue to need to use home heating fuel as a fuel source. As I said, this certainly causes significant difficulties for the two elderly ladies whom I discussed previously.
One other thing, of course, that has caused significant problems for Atlantic Canadians is that, historically, they would rely meagre pensions, the OAS—and we're talking about the Canada pension plan—but they also rely on equity built up in their homes after many years. In Nova Scotia and the other Atlantic provinces, people tend not to move around a whole lot. They would own their own homes for a considerable length of time. Now when we begin to talk to young people in Cumberland—Colchester, we understand very clearly that the cost of a home has doubled, the cost of a mortgage has gone up 150% and, of course, the cost of rent has doubled.
We're beginning to see that. People have not only energy insecurity now, because we know their ability, as I discussed over the last several minutes, to pay their energy bills has gone down, and their energy bills have gone up; and we also know their ability to buy a house is now being lost. The next generation coming along have significant despair.
It's interesting. My colleague from South Shore—St. Margarets came up with a great new word that this government, the NDP-Liberal coalition, is selling to people, and it's called “hopium”. They are wanting people to have hope from their opioid-laced policies. I won't divert myself into the opioid crisis, but for many of their other policies they're selling this haze-inducing utopia that just does not exist for the average person out there.
Certainly those of us on this side of the discussion are clearly getting incredible numbers of people who are losing hope, because of the divisive nature of this NDP-Liberal coalition. I know very clearly that my colleagues on the other side are getting it as well. I talked to many of them after we came back in September on how their summer was. When they were out door-knocking, the disdain with which they were greeted at the door really led them down this road of division, of needing to carve-out a carbon tax relief for Atlantic Canadians.
We know that when they were out door-knocking and talking about their “hopium” policies, people were not buying that any more. People really understood very clearly the policy of continuing to spend $600 billion of inflationary spending, as my great colleague spoke about, and supply-and-demand economics. We know very clearly that those “hopium” types of policies are things that Canadians from coast to coast have been able to see through and understand. This kind of foolish spending is no longer something that they believe in.
What they believe in is common sense. They know very clearly that things like tidal power, like being able to afford a home, to feed yourself, and to keep a roof over your head are very important to Canadians. What they understand very clearly is that they want the chance to do that.
They want a chance to buy their own home so that they could get back to what would normally happen to Atlantic Canadians, before the highest inflation we've seen in 40 years. Their ability to buy a house would appreciate modestly in value over the many years that they would actually own the home. Then if they were owning that home—and of course, as their lives became shorter and shorter—they would know that not only would they have perhaps a small pension, if they were fortunate, but they would have equity in their home, which would then allow them to live through the latter years of their lives in relative comfort.
We know that, as the NDP and Liberals have gone around knocking on doors this summer, they know that the “hopium” they were selling to Canadians just doesn't exist. Canadians are not buying that, and they know very clearly that the crisis that now exists is creating a division across this country.
The other thing, of course, that is causing division and distrust in the NDP-Liberal coalition is related to Bill C-234, which my colleague talked about, being in the Senate now. We know very clearly that Canadian farmers....
I think it's important and germane that we understand how that supply chain works. When you tax the farmer who grows the food and you tax the trucker who delivers the food, then the person, the consumer at the final end, of course, is going to be paying more and more. That's common sense that anybody could understand. As a friend of mine once said, “Businesses don't pay more tax. They pass those taxes on to consumers.” When you tax the farmer and you tax the person who delivers it, then the person who buys it at the end of that chain, of course, is going to pay more for that product.
There's no expectation—well, perhaps there is on the part of this NDP-Liberal coalition—that the farmer would absorb all of those costs. We know, when we talked to our agriculture critic, that the costs for farmers and the requirement to heat their barns and dry grain have gone up precipitously over the last eight years, making it almost untenable.
We know that, very clearly, Canada really should be a powerhouse in our ability to feed the world. Very sadly, the disrespect that the NDP-Liberal coalition has shown to farmers is not allowing Canadian farmers to do that. When we have an ability to do that—