Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to join in these proceedings tonight, to have a conversation about a question I asked in Oral Questions before Christmas. I brought up the situation in my home province and city of Regina where 600 people at Evraz Steel had received layoff notices two weeks before Christmas.
The Deputy Prime Minister answered my question. I said that in the Prime Minister's stop in Regina—Lewvan at Evraz Steel during the 2019 campaign, he told the workers “I have your back.” Lately, the men and women working at Evraz Steel are feeling left behind. Six hundred people were laid off. They spent their Christmas trying to figure out how they were going to pay the bills when they came due in 2021.
The Deputy Prime Minister's answer reflected no compassion, no concern for the people of Regina, the people I represent. She talked about trade deals. She patted herself on the back, saying how the government had a good trade deal with the United States. She blamed the Trump administration and then turned around and blamed our leader for those tariffs. There is always the opportunity to blame someone else.
I know whoever is going to answer these questions today is going to say that we did not build any pipelines under former Prime Minister Harper. I am going to cut that off at the pass right now and talk about pipelines we did build during the Harper years. We built Anchor Loop, Keystone, Alberta Clipper, Line 9B reversal, Southern Lights and we approved energy east and northern gateway. Evraz Steel supplied most of the pipe for those projects. It added $1.25 billion barrels of oil into our system a day. Projects were done under former Prime Minister Harper.
We still want to work toward getting our products to tidewater, so we can get the world prices instead of a discounted price. More work still needs to be done. When I ask questions about what the government will do to support our energy workers, our oil and gas workers, I have talked to the union and the men and women. They build pipes, but they consider themselves an oil and gas company. Without oil and gas production, pipelines are not needed. Therefore, I raise their concerns with those questions.
I need the government members to take this more seriously, not just pat themselves on the back on a job that they think they have done well. They could work to do even better.
What have the Liberals done in the last four months to ensure that jobs stay in Regina? Evraz is an important employer in Regina. One Evraz job creates four spinoff jobs in our local economy. It puts people to work in the restaurant sector, the hospitality sector. Companies that work with and have contracts with Evraz are hurting. There needs to be an effort by the government. I hope the Liberals listen and show some compassion for the people who want to work and earn a paycheque.
I hope I can get some answers tonight on initiatives that are being taken. I am not talking about CERB, or CEBA or programs because of COVID-19. I am talking about a real plan to secure the future jobs at Evraz and to ensure those jobs are there for generations to come.
I have three young kids. I want to ensure there are opportunities for the next generation. This is the first generation that feels it will not have the opportunities into future that we have had. As public officials, we have to work to ensure those opportunities are there.