Mr. Speaker, Canadians are calling us and writing to us each and every day about how can they keep up with this ever escalating price of oil and gas.
As I said in the debate, I do not agree necessarily with the Conservative approach of simply cutting the tax on gas. That is an approach that leaves the real culprits off the hook. That does not get at the fundamental issue, which is the profitability or the price gouging of these oil and gas companies. They have such a monopoly over the situation that they can basically charge the price they want.
It is not an easy matter to address. However, the government can be more proactive in regulating the industry. We may be unable to control the weather that leads to certain market conditions, but we can control the industry from dumping these markets spikes onto the laps of consumers. We can protect the consumer from these huge spikes in the prices at the pumps.
Our goal has to be to eliminate the potential for market manipulation, to drive down consumption of oil and gas which would moderate price volatility and reduce pollution. That is the challenge for all of us.