Mr. Speaker, I met with more than 800 people from my constituency in the first week of March. The most common complaint I heard was that the price of fuel and natural gas was too high.
Farmers trying to keep their vehicles and machinery running are especially hard hit. The price of natural gas is driving up the cost of fertilizer making it even more difficult for those struggling in the agricultural sector. High fuel prices, driven even higher by taxes, are nothing short of highway robbery.
Every year Canadians pay $4.8 billion in fuel taxes but instead of most of that money being put back into roads, it goes straight into general revenues. The Liberal government siphons $375 million in fuel taxes out of Saskatchewan each year, but since 1992 only a total of $26 million has come back. The sudden announcement that $39 million will be spent on roads in Saskatchewan this year is an obvious attempt to buy votes.
Why is the government robbing struggling farmers to fund corporate welfare?