I am sure my colleague from Sault Ste. Marie would also like to know your thoughts on this, Mr. Speaker, as I know you have spent some time on this file.
The question is around what the market will actually bear. The northern Ontario market of which my colleague speaks with respect to the logging community is very similar to that of northern British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and right across the country. The market is at the point of breaking in terms of what independent truckers are able to bear. Some of them have walked me through their books and said, “This is how much I am paying. This is what I am getting paid by the companies and this is how much gas costs. I donated $50 yesterday to the companies because my fuel costs exceeded that”. With prices at $1.10 or $1.20 a litre, that market can no longer bear the costs of production.
That is something that the government will be faced with. When economists speculate prices at $1.70 a litre, how many independent small and medium size businesses in this country can bear that price? If they cannot, what are we going to do about it? We need to do something. It would be irresponsible not to.