Mr. Speaker, before answering, I will go over the question of the member for Champlain.
Indeed, the debate is on a bill that would provide very large tax reductions to oil companies; these are huge amounts for an industry that is doing quite well financially.
I will remind the House of the magnitude of the profits. In its second quarterly report to shareholders, Petro-Canada said:
Petro-Canada announced today second quarter earnings from operations of $455 million, which include a positive adjustment of $96 million for Canadian income tax rate changes.
Thus, a single company got a $96 million tax reduction. Shell Canada got a $54 million tax reduction and Imperial Esso, a $109 million reduction. These are sizable amounts.
My colleague was asking what could justify such a bill. Is it to benefit western Canada?
I think that, generally speaking, no one benefits from such a situation, except the companies themselves. The consumer does not benefit, because we have not seen a reduction of the price at the pumps as a result of these tax reductions.
Consumers were not intended to benefit. Oil companies pocketed the reduction and I believe the answer to that can be found in the comments made by Mr. Neil Smith, a member of the Certified General Accountants' Association of Canada, who said, regarding the ways and means notice that resulted in the bill before us today, and I quote:
The release came on the heels of a significant lobbying effort by the resource sector for federal corporate tax rate reductions.
There were many statements. We know how things are within the Liberal Party of Canada. It lends a more attentive ear to people who contribute generously to its campaign. Eventually, they get rewarded.
The government is offering a tax reduction to companies posting huge profits. Such a reduction is hard to explain, especially when the federal government is saying: “We need money for health care, and the surpluses will certainly not be large enough to pay the provinces what we owe them.”
Oddly enough, on the one hand it does not have the $3 billion surplus it promised the provinces, and on the other it reduces taxes on oil companies by $250 million. Somewhere, someone is being inconsistent and lying to the people.
If the government really wanted to pay the provinces the money it owes them for health care, it would not restrict its ability to do so by decreasing its own revenues and giving tax rebates to oil companies, who really do not need them to survive. Nobody is worried about their survival and I believe they are in good shape.
It is a good thing they are doing well and it is only right that they pay their fair share of taxes since the public as a whole should enjoy the benefits of our natural resources. I believe the federal government's legislation is regressive and concentrates money in the hands of those who already have a lot. I believe this is unacceptable.