Mr. Speaker, I will use all my time. That is why I did not ask the member for Sherbrooke any questions.
This evening, my colleagues have talked about the rising price of gas and how it affects the economy and consumers. That goes without saying. Since we are trying to find solutions to this real problem—although some people are really trying to minimize it, as we have seen tonight—I want to speak about the situation in my riding, and in the ridings of many other members, where there are sparse rural populations spread out over large geographical areas.
To solve the problem of gas prices, the government will have to take action, and citizens will have to act responsibly to reduce consumption. I think that is the only viable option. The government needs to make massive investments in infrastructure and in energy efficiency incentives.
Unfortunately, the way things are now, a lot of people cannot reduce their energy consumption no matter how much they want to. People with low incomes simply cannot get new, more economical cars or renovate their houses or apartments to make them more energy efficient, as a member suggested earlier. All of these things cost money that they do not have, and pathetic tax incentives are no help. What is going on? People are being taken hostage.
One particular situation is extremely frustrating for the people in it, people living in rural areas. Take a senior, for example, specifically, an older woman—women tend to live longer—living in a village of 500, whose only income is her old age pension and her guaranteed income supplement. She is already living below the poverty line, and the rising price of gas literally takes her hostage. We know that there are seniors—in my riding and elsewhere—who cannot make ends meet as it is and who have to resort to food banks. How are they supposed to pay for gas?
If she has to go to a hospital or drive a certain distance to see a medical specialist a few times a month, she has to include that transportation in her already tight budget. There is no need to reiterate, as others have, that the price of gas has gone up 30% since the beginning of the year. Add to that the fact that her mailbox has been relocated for safety reasons, so she has to use her car to get the mail. It is just one thing after another for our people. They have to deal with services being cut back and the cost of living going up. When the price of gas goes up on top of everything else, that is a harsh reality.
In rural areas, you cannot get by without a car. That is the reality. There is no public transportation. Walking and cycling are all well and good, but not at all practical. They would be nice, but are not an option given the distances that must be travelled. Carpooling is not usually an option either.
The rural and regional reality is that of an economy based equally on forestry, agriculture and manufacturing. It is, to a great extent, an economy dependent on trucking and the price of oil. One of the negative effects of rising oil costs that cannot be ignored will be an increase in operating costs, global price hikes.
In my riding in particular, the lack of rail and marine infrastructure—infrastructure that was abandoned by various federal governments, it has been said—will make it even harder for the industries I mentioned to adapt to rising oil costs. It is the workers and consumers who will pay the price.
Yet it is the government's role to develop routes that encourage profitable, sustainable and environmentally friendly trade for all regions, including eastern Quebec.
There is another infrastructure deficit that I consider equally dangerous. The lack of public transit and the decline in service in the regions limit my constituents' choices when they want to reduce their gas consumption.
The government must help consumers reduce their need for gas and energy. The Prime Minister himself said it would be impossible to stop the rise in the price of oil.
The only remaining option is to offset price increases with more efficient and therefore decreased use of energy resources.
In conclusion, current energy efficiency incentives are not enough. They help only those who have the means to make environmentally friendly choices. These choices must be made available to everyone, and it is essential to take into account the reality of people in rural areas in the process.