Mr. Speaker, the OPEC ministers have finally reached a deal to hike oil production but no one should get too excited. After all, we will not see any relief at the pumps until next autumn.
A 10 cents per litre increase for 12 months costs consumers $4.5 billion. But suppose you live in St. John's, Newfoundland. A litre of gas will cost almost 85 cents at the pump today and Newfoundland is now a producer of oil. My own province of Saskatchewan is also an oil producer. At 75 cents per litre we pay more than anyone else on the prairies.
The point is, pump prices follow crude prices up very quickly but they sure take their time on the way down. That threatens the inflation rate, our whole economy and it gouges consumers. Just because we have not yet seen the inflationary impact does not mean it is not a problem. It took almost a year after the 1973 and 1979 oil price shocks for the full impact to be felt.
The government needs an action plan now to protect our economy but it has none. Consumers continue to lose billions of dollars to foreign oil companies.