Madam Speaker, I rise in the House today to speak about the dire situation facing my home province.
When I say Albertans are losing their homes and losing their jobs, I am not exaggerating. Over the past year in Alberta, almost 6,000 homes have been foreclosed, more than 2,000 of those in Calgary alone. Calgary's unemployment rate is still the highest of any major Canadian city, at 9.3%.
Many Albertans, including me, have given up any hope that the Liberals are interested in Alberta, Canada's economic engine. The Prime Minister said he was going to phase out the oil sands. He is certainly following through on that threat by dismantling the NEB and moving the regulator from Calgary to Ottawa, slashing the discovery well tax credit, and imposing a tanker moratorium and a job-killing federal carbon tax. The Liberals' disregard for Alberta is certainly clear.
The Liberals need to make Canada globally competitive. They can do it by following these simple lessons: reduce red tape, cut taxes, and get projects built. Doing these things will help our energy sector and will help Albertans get back to work.