Mr. Speaker, last spring gas prices jumped seven cents per litre across Canada without justification. Only after I publicly called for the government to investigate this industry for price fixing and gouging did gas prices drop about three cents per litre. Public protest followed and it dropped one or two cents more per litre around the country leaving a two or three cent a litre increase intact.
The Bureau of Competition Policy today said it does not see price fixing. This is a bizarre conclusion with unanswered questions. Why this conclusion? Could it be because the oil companies and the Liberal government are in bed together?
For example, the Liberal Party received political donations from Husky Oil of $14,000, from Amoco Oil of $27,000, and from Imperial Oil of $47,000 last year alone. He who pays the piper calls the tune. As far as Canadian consumers are concerned the Bureau of Competition Policy and the Liberal government are more like lapdogs than watchdogs when it comes to gas price fixing.
The oil companies' donations in this case to the Liberal Party are paying off.