Mr. Speaker, “as it has in the past”? But it has done exactly nothing in the past. The rise in the price of gasoline is due in large part to the disproportionate profit margins of the oil companies at the refining stage. We are talking about profit margins of 17.5¢ a litre, while the oil companies would be already doing well with 6¢ a litre. Refineries are a federal responsibility, and the Prime Minister refuses to intervene.
When will the Prime Minister stop thinking like a shareholder, concerned with profits, and impose some discipline on the oil companies by creating the petroleum monitoring agency?