Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to the natural resources minister. Only the current Conservative government could reduce this issue to a question, and this is really what he said, of whether members of Parliament want to reward the oil companies for their success in wracking up record profits or whether we want to penalize them.
What is astounding is that the natural resources minister absolutely refuses to acknowledge that there are imperfections in the market system. People are being severely penalized by the fact that there are no real regulatory constraints. He offered the increased price of crude as the reason for the hikes. That is always the explanation. He did not comment on the fact that when the price of crude drops, this perfect market system does not immediately, or even within a reasonable time, result in a decrease in the price of gas.
The minister suggested that greater fuel efficiency in vehicles is one of the important things we could do to deal with this problem of increased gas prices. Why is it that the Conservative Party and the Liberals defeated the motion brought forward by the NDP pressing for mandatory standards with respect to fuel efficiency and instead pushed for voluntary measures which we know do not work?
Is the natural resources minister at all prepared to acknowledge that there is such a thing as excess profits that are penalizing hard-working Canadian families who either do not have public transit alternatives or are forced to use cars because of the nature of their work? The excess profits that result in higher gas prices than can be warranted are penalizing the trucking industry.