Mr. Speaker, after the 2004 campaign, he was given the task of being transport critic and he did it so well that after three months he was promoted to be the whip of the Conservative Party. He has done such a phenomenal job on behalf of our party.
I agree with him on all counts. The transportation policy of the Liberal government for the past 12 years has been a myth. It is non-existent.
Canada is one of the few countries in the world that I know of where transportation infrastructure is built into the very creation of our nation, a bridge to P.E.I., a railway from coast to coast, ferry service to Newfoundland and Labrador. Transportation is part of the heart and soul of what created our country. Yet when we look over the past decade of the Liberal government, not one Canadian can name a single substantive achievement by it in the area of transportation.
The simple difference between the Liberals and Conservatives, when it comes to transportation, is Conservatives believe that transportation is a mechanism for nation-building. Liberals look at the transportation industry as a way of raising taxes and revenue for the state.
We can look at every area of the transportation industry, such as the air industry, which we are debating now. When 9/11 happened, the Liberals instituted a new security regime and they put in place a $24 a head air security tax. Increasing rents and landing fees at Pearson Airport are consequences of that. They are increasing taxes across the board in the air industry. They are increasing airport improvement fees for people when they fly because they have not dealt with the governance issue at airport authorities across the country.
We can look at roads in the country. In the fiscal year 2003, the last numbers for which I have the data, of the 100% of gas tax revenues that the government collected, it invested 2.4% into roads. It is taxing people at the pumps and not putting money into the roads. It is taxing truck drivers and taxi drivers and not putting those investments back where they need to be.
On the rail side, we see exactly the same kind of thing with a lack of competition and access for producers in the prairie provinces.
We can go across all sectors and the Liberals look at transportation as a way to raise money. What we want to do is take a step back and build a true national infrastructure, with air competition and more open skies so people have more choice and options when they fly, with lower fees and reduced rates. We want to have a first class Trans-Canada Highway from coast to coast that is the pride of this nation. We want to protect ferry services to Newfoundland and Labrador so people get the service that they have been promised and that has been justified. We want to fix the dangerous parts of highway in the country that are costing people their lives needlessly because the government would rather have that money for general revenue than investing it into projects that need proper service.
On the rail industry, we will ensure competition. We will ensure that we have better access to commuter rail by exposing and making transparent the contracts between rail companies and municipal authorities so there is clear transparency and accountability. We will have, as a government, a comprehensive, national transportation plan that covers all sectors and that will get this country moving again.
For a decade the Liberals have done nothing. When 9/11 happened, the government completely arrested and nothing moved forward; no focus, no agenda, no specific plan for transportation infrastructure. From highways to air policy to the shipping industry to the Pacific gateway, to ferry service, all of it, a Conservative government will move forward and we will get this country moving again.