Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by well over 120 Canadians from Mississauga, Aurora, Oshawa, Peterborough, Stayner, Whitby, Oakville, Richmond Hill, Guelph, Wasaga Beach and Prince George, B.C.
The petitioners wish to bring to the attention of the government the serious lack of competition and transparency in the energy industry that has hampered the free market to the detriment of all Canadians, and of course the wider impact of high fuel prices on the economy as a whole.
They wish to underline that during a period of economic uncertainty and difficulty the effect this has had on the Canadian economy cannot be ignored. They also wish to draw to the attention of the government and the House of Commons that many countries around the world, indeed most leading countries, have an energy market monitoring agency and that an energy superpower like Canada needs such an agency.
They therefore call upon the government to acknowledge that the high price of fuel is damaging the Canadian economy; to reinstate the office of petroleum price information, which was abolished by the Conservative government as an energy market information service in 2006, and that like the U.S. energy information agency would produce weekly reports, including all Canadian energy supply, demand, inventory and storage information; to begin hearings immediately into the energy sector to determine how the government can foster competition and provide transparency to the energy market; and to eliminate the monopolistic efficiencies defence clause of the Competition Act.