Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with my colleague, the member for Vancouver Island North.
One of the real causes for rising gas prices is the rising price of oil. Recent events down in the south of the U.S. with the hurricane is another reason for rising prices of oil. While the government would not be prudent if it wanted to control the price of oil, and while the government cannot solve the problem entirely, it can help to mitigate some of the adverse effects, especially on average people who drive, use energy and home heating fuels. The government can act to help mitigate some of the burden put on Canadians as a result of rising fuel and rising home heating costs.
This is important because home heating costs this winter could double. We need to find out what plans the government has to help out the most vulnerable in our society, the elderly, those on fixed incomes, the infirm, to ensure that they have enough money to cover their home heating costs and that the government will not leave them out in the cold this winter.
This is an emergency debate, a take note debate and an important debate. In recent days we have had panic buying and signs of lineups, lineups we have not seen at gas stations since the oil shocks of the 1970s. We saw that happen across southwestern Ontario and the GTA last week. People who work in these areas need to be assured that the government has a handle on this situation. Unfortunately, we have seen no action from the government whatsoever on this file.
The action the government could take and the action we suggest it take on this issue, not to solve rising energy cost problems but to offset them, is to reduce the tax burden on Canadians. Recent reports have said that the government will collect an additional $2 billion this year as a result of rising fuel prices. Yet the government says that it is not a lot of money. If it reduces taxes 1¢ per litre, the tax burden would only be reduced by $400 million. Two billion dollars extra in government revenues from rising fuel prices could be offset by a 4¢ or 5¢ reduction in fuel tax prices. The government though seems to pooh-pooh this, that it is not a very significant amount of money and that it will not have a huge impact.
Two billion dollars is a lot of money which if spread across 308 ridings in the country is about $6 million per riding. In my riding of Wellington—Halton Hills this is $6 million that is not going to local businesses, or to local restaurants, or to local shopkeepers and local retail outlets. That is $6 million that is not going to be spent in my riding. Recently local business owners have told me that they have noticed a drop in business as a result of rising gas prices. This is having a significant impact on local economies and on the national economy.
The government's response to the issue, however, has been that not much should be done because it really will not make a difference. It is clinging to the indefensible position that 1¢ a litre will not make much of a difference. One cent a litre is a lot of difference. It is about a million and a half dollars out of each riding that local businesses no longer have. Four cents per litre is six million dollars out of the local economy. It is a lot of money and the government should act on this.
For every $400 million that the government says is irrelevant, that is $400 million out of the Canadian economy and it is $400 million by which the quality of life for Canadians is made poorer.
Another shortfall of the government's reaction to rising fuel prices and home heating costs is the fact that over the last number of years it has failed to act to encourage and support renewable energy sources. It has dragged its feet on implementing alternative sources of energy to complement hydrocarbon, gasoline and diesel fuels so that the demand for gasoline and diesel has shifted on to other alternative sources. Because of the government's shortsightedness and the fact that it has not acted, demand has significantly risen in recent years. We are now in a situation where many working people are feeling squeezed by rising energy costs.
This has real implications, especially in the manufacturing heartland of Ontario where the manufacturing industry, which already has lost somewhere in the range of 100,000 jobs in Ontario in the last year, is feeling the double squeeze of the rising dollar, which is hurting their exports, and rising fuel prices. Yet the government says that it does not feel there is a problem. Even if there is a problem, $400 million is not a lot of money to put back into the economy because 1¢ per litre really will not make a difference. We as a party beg to differ and feel the government should act on this.
The other thing I find interesting is because of the government's failure to act on this issue and to provide some guidance and direction, it has started to obfuscate about the spectre of possible anti-competitive behaviour in the gasoline market. It is just a smokescreen for hiding the real fact, which is the its lack of inaction.
There is an old saying that actions speak louder than words and the government's lack of action on rising gas prices and home heating costs speaks for itself.