Mr. Speaker, in response to my Conservative colleague's question, I will note that as New Democrats we have been specifically requesting an independent monitoring agency. Currently the industry self-regulates. It polices itself. That is cold comfort for Canadians across the country who are continually being fleeced at the pumps.
What we have called for in the past is more resources for the Competition Bureau, which has acknowledged that it does not have enough resources to start with. Second, if we look at its mandate and the questions we are asking with regard to collusion, it does not have an actual process in place to get to this particular issue. Yes, the Competition Bureau has done a lot of good work in different ways, but it does not have the necessary tools to make this a real change.
I would argue as well that it is important to say that we in this House have the opportunity and also the ability to make choices that set public policy on the use of petroleum and oil products in our communities. I would say to the Conservatives here that Bill Davis did this in Ontario. He actually froze gasoline prices and also created Sunoco because he wanted to add competition and accountability to the system.
I would suggest that the Conservatives think about their historic roots, when they actually had some progressive values and implemented public policy that was fair and that improved competition. With no competition, it is collusion by default. It does not even have to be organized because nothing happens.