Madam Speaker, Surrey is the fastest growing municipality in Canada. Almost 1,000 people move to Surrey every month. We have to create jobs for them. We have to provide infrastructure, hospitals, schools, bridges, and roads, and we need resources and money to build them.
Many good things happen in Surrey—Newton. This weekend, Sikhs are celebrating Khalsa Day. Last year we had over 400,000 Canadians come to Surrey—Newton to celebrate the birth of Khalsa. We will be having a Sikh nagar kirtan and a Sikh parade this weekend, on Saturday. I invite all members to join us in the celebration. I wish everyone celebrating a very happy Khalsa Day and a very happy Vaisakhi.
Tonight's debate is not just about whether we support this pipeline. This government has clearly said that, yes, this pipeline will be built. Tonight's debate is about much more than that. It is about whether we support Canadian workers, whether we support getting our resources to market, and whether we support the rule of law in this country.
On this side of the House, we know how important it is to get our natural resources to market and to diversify beyond the United States so that we get the best value for our products and for Canadian workers.
Canada has benefited from diverse export markets. Thousands of jobs, families, and communities benefit from the trade we do every day. The Port of Metro Vancouver currently supports more than $200 billion in trade with over 120 countries around the world. We need to open more doors, not close them. They will also benefit when we build this pipeline and get our resources to market.
We also understand that as we grow our economy, we need to take action to protect our environment. Our track record and the decisions we have made are proof of that. When our government approved the Trans Mountain pipeline, we did it as part of our larger plan for Canada's economy, environment, and future. Our decision was based on the best science, wide consultations, and Canada's national interest.
The review was comprehensive and detailed in the history of building pipelines in Canada. It was based on our five guiding principles, which focused on greater indigenous consultations, wide public participation, putting a priority on science and traditional knowledge, consideration of climate impacts, and assurance that no resource project would go back to the beginning so that the investment community would have the fullest confidence.
Scientists from across the country covered every aspect of this pipeline, from pipeline safety to the effect on wildlife, air quality, and environmental emergencies. While we conducted a scientific review to the highest possible standard, we also made the single largest investment to protect Canada's oceans with the $1.5-billion oceans protection plan.
This plan strengthens our response to a possible spill with a better equipped Canadian Coast Guard, improved navigational safety, and continuing scientific research. It adopts new technologies to make sure that, in the unlikely scenario that there is a spill, we will have the best technologies available to us to respond.
We understand that to get a pipeline built in the 21st century, we need balance. We need to understand that the environment and the economy go hand in hand. The members on the opposite side do not understand this because they have never had a major pipeline built. The fact is that Canada is rich in resources, and we have a long history of getting those goods to market to create jobs, sustain families, and grow this economy. Just as our history is linked to natural resources, so too is our future. Oil and gas is a key part of that. This is the success that we enjoy when we open markets for our resources. When we close them, we do not just put the economy at risk, we put the livelihood of Canadian workers, their families, and their communities at risk too.
Without this pipeline, 99% of our oil will continue to be exported to the United States, and we will have no choice but to continue to receive less money for our oil. This directly takes billions of dollars out of our economy, money that could go to support the construction of schools, hospitals, and roads across this country. It has been estimated that only having the U.S. as a market for our oil has cost our economy $117 billion over the last seven years. There are so many challenges we could tackle and opportunities we could seize if we had this money.
The recently elected provincial government in British Columbia ran a campaign last year where it talked about much-needed investment in building schools and a hospital in Surrey, but the question is on where the money for that comes from. The money comes from our natural resources, whether forestry, mining, or oil This is the foundation of our economy and we must support it, not only for economic reasons, but because if the choice is not to support these industries then we risk the future growth of our communities. In British Columbia, over 33 first nations have signed benefit agreements with Kinder Morgan because it will bring new opportunities, more jobs, and better supports for their neighbouring communities. We cannot choose here to deny them of those benefits.
In closing, I want to proudly say that we approve this pipeline and we will get this pipeline built. We have approved this pipeline with the best possible science, which has accounted for every scenario, from construction to transport. We brought together and informed Canadians through wide consultations, and we made historic investments so that we have the best tools. We did this because this pipeline is in the national interest, because of Canadians who depend on these jobs and our economy that must grow.
Over the past couple of days, when our Prime Minister took the leadership to bring the premiers from Alberta and British Columbia into one room, I have received many calls appreciating the role and the strong leadership that this Prime Minister and member for Papineau has played compared to the previous Conservative government.