Madam Speaker, I understand why the Liberals would want to interrupt my great speech. I was telling them exactly how this carbon tax was affecting my northern Alberta communities.
This carbon tax will cost Canadians exponentially, as I was explaining earlier, particularly around the trucking costs. Up in northern Alberta, bringing food in is a significant cost, often because the food will sit on the truck for eight or nine hours.
That says nothing about what the carbon tax will cost our farmers. One of the major inputs to our farmers is both the fuel and the fertilizer. Both of these things will have significant amounts of carbon tax on them. This will make it so our food is more expensive.
I do not know if members know this, but all our food is grown by farmers across Canada. It is important that our farmers maintain viability. When a carbon tax is put on our farmers, they are placed at a competitive disadvantage with farmers around the world. We are already at somewhat of a competitive disadvantage just given the location in which we live. It is a cold climate and not as many things grow in northern Alberta as in some of the other places in the world. However, we have a thriving agriculture sector, yet the Liberals are imposing a carbon tax on farmers and, at the same time, saying they stand up for farmers.
One of the huge costs to farming is the fuel, and we see a significant increase in the fuel costs, never mind the heating. When the crops come off the field and are a bit too wet, we have to dry them out, and that uses a lot of natural gas and propane. If we increase the cost of natural gas by a complete quarter, 25%, that is a huge cost that will be borne out by our farmers. They say that the farmers might be able to manage this, that they might be able to remain viable. Sure, they will probably increase the price of their product, but what does is make food across the country more expensive.
If the Liberals were actually trying to make lives better for the average, everyday Canadian in the middle class, and those working hard to join it, as the Liberals continually trumpet, they would not be imposing a carbon tax. That, in and of itself, proves the point that we need to know what this carbon tax will cost the average, everyday Canadian. The Liberals have blacked that out on the document we have been provided, and are unwilling to tell Canadians what the benefits of the carbon tax are and what it will cost everyday Canadians.