Mr. Speaker, the rapid increase in gasoline prices in Canada is of concern to the Canadian government without question, and is a concern to everyone in the country. The increase since hurricane Katrina has mainly been driven by crude oil prices which have climbed more than 50% so far in 2005.
There are a number of factors driving the crude oil prices. Foremost among them is demand. The economies of developing nations around the world are growing and that growth requires energy.
The government is taking action. The success of our efforts is predicated on there being an open and fair market to bring these products to Canadians. In that regard the Competition Bureau has served us well. It has spent considerable resources analyzing the practices and participants in the oil and gas industry. Bureau officials have done five major studies of gas prices since 1990. Each of those studies told us that gas price spikes were not the result of a national conspiracy to limit competition with gasoline supply, or from abusive behaviour by dominant firms in the market.
The Competition Bureau has closely followed the activities of the oil and gas firms during the recent period of volatile price shifts and it will continue to do so. I have every confidence that the commissioner will take the appropriate action where evidence of anti-competitive behaviour is found.
Trust in the market is created when the rules are applied and they must be applied fairly and openly. Again, the bureau has served Canadians well over the years. Bureau investigations have resulted in 13 trials and eight convictions in price maintenance cases in the oil and gas industry.
The bureau has also investigated the competition problems that could arise from proposed oil and gas company mergers and has not hesitated to challenge potential transactions that could substantially lessen or prevent competition. Honest competitors in every industry need to be protected. We have to make sure that there is no collusion nor price fixing. They need to be protected against firms that might use their dominant position to enhance their position in the market.
As a government we have put forward changes to the Competition Act and have tried to ensure the act is strengthened. We will also make sure that we have proper and appropriate tools to respond to the changing business climate. We also know that we need to do everything we can to protect the consumer as well as we can from those spikes that happen, but it is not the government's responsibility to set the price. Canada mainly is a price taker, not a price setter.
One of the major problems we have had over the last several months is the very volatile prices, but all Canadians must be aware that those prices have been volatile in every country around the world. In the United States the price has jumped. In Europe the price has jumped. Still, Canadians have suffered, but we have put a program in place to make sure that low income Canadians receive a fair amount of price support this coming winter.
One of the steps the government has taken is to make sure that we have programs in place that will deal with those extremely difficult situations Canadians will have.
The Government of Canada has allocated $15 million over five years for the office. The office will rely on information such as federal and provincial data and will provide information to Canadians on how markets are operating. In other words, it will be made open and transparent, wo that on the Internet or through our bureau that we are setting up, Canadians will know what is causing the price volatility and how it is happening. There will be more transparency in the industry. Those are steps the Canadian government is taking.