Mr. Speaker, I am very glad to be able to participate this evening, regardless of how much time is left in the debate.
One of the things that happened in 2015 is that I was elected. One of the reasons I ran to get elected was that I always felt that Alberta was getting a raw deal when it came to its resource development. This is a vast and great country, but I felt that there were parts of this country that were not fair to Alberta in saying that we were not doing our due diligence when it came to developing our natural resources. I wanted to come here to champion the Albertan way of life and the fact that we develop our resources in the best way possible.
What I do remember from before I was elected is that it was Liberal Party members who went around the country discrediting whatever we were doing in Alberta. They went around saying that we were polluting the environment when we were not. They went around saying that the processes for developing pipelines did not meet with the approval of Canadians when, in fact, they had for a very long time. They went around saying that the Navigable Waters Act was an environmental policy when it was not. Those things got me frustrated enough to get involved with the political process, to buy a party membership, put my name on a ballot, win a nomination and come here to this place. It pleases me greatly today to be able to stand and defend the interests of Albertans, particularly in the north.
On Saturday evening, I was standing in the lineup at a Subway and I saw Wade in the lineup behind me. I asked him how things were going. He did not remember me at all, but I had worked on his truck many times when I worked at Stephani Motors. He said, “Well, it's going”. I asked him if he was keeping busy. He said, “No, not really, but who are you?” I said, “Well, I'm Arnold, and I used to work on your truck at Stephani's.” He said, “Oh, well the truck is still working good, but I haven't used it in over a year. I gave up the oilfield contract that I had. I've been farming ever since, and so I don't need that truck anymore and it's been parked.” I asked him if he was going to go back. He said, “I'm getting too old for that game now and there's just not a lot of money in it.” He was quite dejected about the whole situation. It is with that conversation in mind that I stand, and for the people like Wade that I represent here, and really want to participate in this debate tonight.
Another fellow I met on the weekend was Roland. He runs a heavy-duty mechanic shop. I met him the other day at the gas station. I asked him how things were going. He said, “Well, it's going pretty good, Arnold.” I said, “Did you move into your new house? I saw you built a new house.” He said, “Yeah, we've moved in now.” I said, “Is it finished? I made the mistake of moving into my house before it was completely finished and it's been four years now and I haven't quite completed the basement yet.” He said, “Well, that happened to me too, but it's not for lack of time that I haven't finished my basement. It's for lack of money. Things are just tight nowadays. Since the oilfield dried up, there's just not a lot of money to do those things that need to be done.”
I recently took a cab ride in Calgary. I asked the driver where he was from, and he said he was from Pakistan. I asked what had brought him here. He said, “Oh, I had a great engineering job. I worked there for two years, but I was laid off two years ago. I've been picking up every job that I can find in the meantime.” Here he was, driving a cab. He did not see an end in sight. He said, “I think I'm going to be moving to Toronto or something like that.” He did not know where he was going to go.
This is not just an Alberta story. This is a Canadian story.
I remember working on trucks for people from Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. They would come to the shop to get their truck fixed. They were happy to have a job in northern Alberta. One of those people who was working in the oil patch in northern Alberta is the member for Tobique—Mactaquac. He has great stories about the money he made in northern Alberta, the times he had and the adventures he went on.
That is the story of hundreds of thousands of Canadians from across this country who have made their fortune in northern Alberta. That is the story of the 100,000-plus jobs that are missing. They are not only in Alberta. Those are people who were making money and sending it back home to Newfoundland. Those are people who were making money and sending it back home to New Brunswick. Those were the guys who flew in for 10 days on and four days off. Those are the guys who rode our airplanes.
Since being elected, I cannot tell members how many fewer plane flights there are going east to west. That has had a significant impact on every part of this country, not just northern Alberta. However, it does affect northern Alberta significantly. The hotels are now empty, the gas stations have about a third fewer customers. Depending on where those business are located, for some, their customers have been cut in half. The recreation centres have fewer people going to them, the highways are less busy and, therefore, there is less need for all of the services that come with that. Northern Alberta is seeing a trickle-down effect across its economy. I think about the guys like Wade and Roland, and my cab driver, and even the MP for Tobique—Mactaquac who had a great time there and the people of his riding who will not have the same experience he had making his fortune in northern Alberta.
It is a Canadian tragedy that we are not able to get our magnificent resource to market, a resource that has made Canada amazing, so we can share the wealth with all of Canada. I am proud to be Albertan and I am proud to be Canadian. Let us get Canadians working again.