Mr. Speaker, in recent decades, Alberta has been an engine of Canada's prosperity. Tens of billions of dollars have been generated by our industry and have been shared with Canadians. Hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs have been created for people in every corner of our country. However, today Albertans are hurting. Nearly 100,000 full-time jobs have been lost in the last year. Insolvencies and bankruptcies are at near record highs. Thousands of small businesses have closed, and people are losing their homes.
Albertans understand that commodity prices fluctuate, but what they do not understand are governments that are making a bad situation much worse, that are jamming on the brakes in the midst of a recession.
The Liberal government is part of the problem,raising income, business, payroll, and other taxes and now threatening to impose a huge job-killing carbon tax. It is delaying and shutting down critical pipeline projects that would give us access to world markets.
It is time to stand up for Canada's energy industry. It is time to be proud of the wonderful work of our men and women in the energy sector.