Mr. Speaker, earlier this week I had the pleasure to attend a conference on trade corridors held in Niagara Falls. People came from across the continent to discuss ways Canada and the United States can more efficiently transport the $1.5 billion of goods that cross the border every day.
Since 70% of these goods travel by road, everyone acknowledged the need to upgrade the highway system.
The American government is pumping over $200 billion into its highway system over a six year period; that is 90% of the money it collects in fuel taxes. Contrast this to the federal Liberals who, despite collecting over $4.5 billion in fuel taxes a year, put only a pathetic $150 million back into Canada's roads; that is only 3%.
Trade has been a major factor in Canada's economic recovery. It is time the Liberals put some of that money back into roads instead of ripping off the taxpayers yet again.