Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Winnipeg North for giving me the opportunity to share this time with her.
As we are all aware, gas prices are an issue of extreme importance right across the country. In Burnaby—New Westminster it is equally an issue of extreme importance.
With the approach of winter we will be seeing the consequences of this sharp and sudden spike in gas prices, much of this taking place with old stock. After hurricane Katrina we saw a rapid spike upward that has meant consequences, particularly for low income Canadians, that we have to be very conscious of.
I heard a program on the radio the other day advising seniors on the best methods for making that desperate choice between eating or heating. I find it deplorable that in a country as wealthy as Canada we are asking lower income Canadians, Canadians who have suffered the most from the stagnation of the past 15 years, to actually choose between buying groceries or going to the food bank at the end of the month or heating their homes or apartments.
We are also talking about the fundamental impact on those who must drive as part of making their living. This sudden spike in gas prices is having an impact on truckers, taxi drivers and rural route postal workers.
Over the past 15 years 80% of Canadian families have seen a reduction in income in real terms. We are talking about a desperate situation that is being made much worse.
What is the solution? The NDP, as my colleague from Winnipeg North has pointed out, has put forward a very sensible three point plan to address these issues immediately. We cannot afford to wait. The first and primary point in this three point plan is the issue of accountability in pricing. We have believed and have been pushing for many years in Parliament to have a watchdog over the type of price manipulation and profiteering that we have seen most recently.
I heard who attended the industry committee hearings last week. A consultant in the oil and gas industry said to committee members that the profit margins for refining had been spectacular over the past few weeks. When we say spectacular in the hands of the oil companies we know what impact that has been for Canadians across the country, in particular low income Canadians.
We have seen record profits. I will mention just a few of them for the record because it is important. Exxon's worldwide profits increased by 32% in the second quarter of this year, up to $7.64 billion; Royal Dutch/Shell profits are up to $3.9 billion; Esso profits are up to $539 million; Shell Canada profits are now up over half a billion dollars.
At the same time as we have seen these record profits in the oil and gas industry, and we are not talking about the mom and pop shops that existed across the country, in refining with the big oil we are seeing record levels of profit and we have seen the Liberal government pushing down the corporate income tax rates for the oil and gas sector. It was 28% in the year 2000 and it will be down to 21% in 2007.
At the same time as we are seeing record profits in the oil and gas sector and we are seeing huge price increases for heating oil and for gas, it is important to note the extensive subsidies that come out of the taxpayer's pocket.
Pembina Institute produced a report on government spending on Canada's oil and gas industry. What the Pembina Institute concluded was that the Government of Canada provided the oil and gas industry with $1.446 billion in subsidies in 2002. I am quoting from the report summary.
The increase in subsidies between 1996 and 2000 was 33%. Total expenditures between 1996 and 2002 inclusive were equal to $8.3 billion. The federal government expenditure on oil sands alone was estimated to be over $1.1 billion.
We are talking about a heavily subsidized industry with corporate tax rates that are actually declining and corporate profits that are at a record rate and yet there is no accountability for pricing. It is unbelievable that while Canadians are facing these sharp price increases it has only been the NDP calling for a watchdog on the industry. Only the NDP has said that there must be accountability in pricing. Only the NDP is standing up for consumers and saying no to the oil and gas companies. We are the ones telling them that they cannot gouge the public and that we will stand up and fight for Canadians from coast to coast to coast. That is the first point in the three point plan.
The second point is greater energy efficiency. We saw this last spring when 19 NDP caucus members forced through major changes to the finance minister's budget. As a result of that, $900 million will be going to rapid transit and energy efficiency. We would like to expand that program. We also called for mandatory fuel efficiency. We are the only party in the House to actually call for mandatory fuel efficiency. The Liberals and Conservatives were opposed. Mandatory fuel efficiency helps Canadians.
The third point, equally important to others, is cost relief for the most vulnerable Canadians in Canada. We are pushing for rebates through the tax system so we can help those Canadians who are facing the choice this winter between eating and heating.
Those are the three key points that we have put forward in the public and which we are now putting forward in the House to deal with what is an emergency. This evening's debate is an emergency debate and it is an emergency for low income Canadians, for seniors on fixed incomes, for single parent families and for Canadians who are already suffering from the loss of real income that has taken place over the last 15 years. This is no small issue. This is an emergency which is why we have called for a watchdog agency and for increased energy efficiency. We need to protect the most vulnerable members of our society.
In getting back to the issue of the watchdog, I should mention the petroleum monitoring agency that would monitor prices to avoid the kind of sharp increase in price that we saw on old stock that was produced at the lower prices but was charged at the higher prices. While we have been calling for this, the industry committee in 2003 actually agreed with the idea of having a watchdog agency and the NDP pushed that issue forward. Members of the Alliance Party at that time, now the Conservative Party, were fundamentally opposed to any overseeing of Canadians' interests through a petroleum monitoring agency. Members of the Liberal Party said that they were in favour of this but, as we can see two years later, the issue is much worse and nothing has been done. For two years now we have continued to call for that watchdog which is of fundamental importance in protecting Canadians' interests.
We also have been raising the issue of proportionality. We know through NAFTA and the dispute settlement mechanism that was ripped up by President Bush just a few weeks ago that what Canada gave away in those negotiations was proportionality on our energy. If we reduce supply, even in the event of a national emergency, we are now forced to reduce domestic supply proportionate to the exports that we may reduce. Other countries have a dual pricing regime in place. Countries like Saudi Arabia have a dual pricing regime in place. We do not have dual pricing to benefit Canadians. We have a proportionality where we continue to export most of our energy to the United States, even in a situation where to all intents and purposes the dispute settlement mechanism and the signature for NAFTA have been ripped up and the signature that the United States applied to NAFTA has basically been disabused.
Those are our solutions in our three point plan. We are hoping through the debate this evening that other members of the House will take note of our three point plan to help Canadians deal with this emergency so that we can start helping Canadians through this winter and help them cope with these high gas prices.