Mr. Speaker, on February 16 I asked the Liberal government what action plan it had put together to defend our economy from the OPEC cartel and Canadians from the impact of record energy prices.
With the cost of home heating fuel doubling, just heating a house this winter will eat up all of the minuscule tax breaks Canadians received from the Liberals yesterday. Record gas prices, record diesel fuel prices and the energy component of our economy is very, very serious in terms of pricing.
When I asked my question, the U.S. energy secretary and the U.S. president had just announced a series of measures designed to help Americans, especially in the northeastern states, to deal with the sudden run-up in costs of these essential energy commodities.
The U.S. president said that he was deeply disturbed by the trouble this was causing Americans and that his administration was monitoring the situation on a daily basis. With his energy secretary he announced 17 different measures, including assistance for low income earners to pay their heating bills, loan assistance for truckers and so on. Moreover, the energy secretary held a summit with oil companies, state government officials and affected stakeholders in Boston on the very day I raised the issue in the House.
The contrast between the U.S. administration and the Canadian Liberal government on this matter should be the cause of grave embarrassment to the government and to the Minister of Industry. Instead of concern, we got partisan scorn. Instead of caring, we got buck passing. Instead of an answer, we got hogwash.
First, the industry minister said “If it is so important, why do provinces like Saskatchewan not do something?” Not to defend the provinces, but their fuel taxes do not go up when gas prices go up or when diesel prices go up or when home heating fuel goes up, but federal taxes like the GST and the BST do go up.
If the minister really advocates the provinces regulating energy prices, he should say so. Otherwise he is just passing the buck again.
Next the minister suggested that the government had in fact already been discussing this issue with the provinces and territories. I checked. The council of energy ministers has not had the issue of gasoline prices on its agenda since the summer of 1998. It was not on that agenda because the federal government put it there; it was there at the request of the Yukon NDP energy minister in 1998.
Also, the ministers responsible for consumer affairs agreed to fund a study on competition in gasoline pricing, but the minister picked the same consultant who wrote a previous study for the big oil companies, and now everyone else is boycotting. Who is going to read the study? Is it going to be credible? Not likely. It will be taken seriously by no one except the Minister of Industry and the Minister of Natural Resources, who are so cozy with the oil patch they never even noticed how badly consumers are hurting from these price hikes.
In my question I expressed concern about the potential impact of rising energy prices on the inflation rate, a concern echoed by many commentators, including, on that very day, the governor of the Bank of Canada.
It is true that the data for January which was released the following week showed the overall or headline inflation rate down from 2.6% to 2.4%, but energy costs rose by an annual rate of 28.5% during that month. Those costs remain a source of concern in our economy, which relies so heavily on energy, which is the underpinning of our economy.
Because of these concerns and because Canadian consumers are hurting, I asked what the government's plan was to defend Canadians from this crisis. To its shame it had none. It was barely aware of the problem. It had no intention of showing leadership and finding a solution. It just passed the buck and hoped the problem would go away.
I wonder if the parliamentary secretary today can tell us whether his government has finally seen the light. Can he tell Canadians what action plan has been put together to defend our economy, to defend Canadian consumers, business people and farmers from the OPEC cartel?