Mr. Speaker, generally a member of Parliament is pleased to stand in his or her place in this House and say positive things about his or her riding, but unfortunately, today is not that day.
In the past year, more than 100,000 Albertans have lost their jobs and much of their pride with it, and many in my constituency. Many more job losses are expected in 2016.
We all recognize that many of these job losses are due to the significant drop in world oil prices, but there are things the government could do to mitigate some of these job losses. Government infrastructure money or a $250-million special equalization payment will not put these folks back to work. What is really needed is for the Liberal government to show some leadership and come out publicly in support of pipeline construction projects. Members of the government could do that tonight by voting for our motion, which was debated last Thursday.
Several pipeline proposals that would move more than one million barrels of oil safely to market are in the hearing process. However, instead of showing support, the current government has introduced more red tape and extended the timeline for making decisions.
I challenge—