Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to the member opposite and I have a couple of comments.
Canadians certainly have seen the up and down cycle of gas prices many times and I think we will continue to see it. The one thing that happens is that high prices occur during volatile market conditions and those high prices are not contrary to the Competition Act.
The one question I have for the member concerns the creation of a petroleum monitoring agency. We already have the Competition Bureau which is an independent agency responsible for the administration of the Competition Act. In my estimation, the bureau is doing the job that it is supposed to be doing but it sounds as though the member opposite thinks the petroleum monitoring agency should be doing that job.
Since 1990 the Competition Bureau has conducted six investigations into allegations of collusion in the gasoline industry and it has consistently found no evidence of a national conspiracy. It has also undertaken eight successful prosecutions since 1972 for resale price maintenance in local gasoline markets.
What does the member feel the monitoring agency could do that the Competition Bureau is not doing?