Mr. Speaker, two of the biggest problems in the world are increasing global climate disasters and growing gaps of income. The right energy policies could help solve both of those things, but Canada has no national energy strategy, or any real job strategy, other than the temporary foreign worker program.
Meanwhile, Communist China is eating our lunch on green technologies and green jobs.
By refusing binding greenhouse gas targets, Red China has successfully trapped our Conservatives, all while Red China's national bank is pouring capital into sustainable future energy technologies like solar and wind. China is the world leader in clean energy investment. It set aside $54 billion last year for the sector, dwarfing Canada's paltry contributions.
Endlessly pumping oil is not even doing our economy that much good in the short term. It is becoming clear that over half of all of the oil and gas reserves in the ground will have to stay in the ground as monstrous stranded assets.
Let us look at some of the facts of life under the current government since it took power in 2006. Unemployment is up by 9%, and youth employment is far worse than that. Real economic growth per capita is the lowest since the Great Depression, and personal debt and the national debt are both up by over 25%.
As a businessperson myself, I find it fascinating that the party that claims to be the party of free markets, instead picks winners and losers, mostly losers in the longer run.
The IMF reports that Canadian government subsidies to oil are a whopping $34 billion each and every year. We Canadians are addicted to oil. Raised on the car culture, I am a bit guilty myself.