Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Banff—Airdrie, the opposition whip, for bringing this debate to the floor. The non-partisan Speaker granted yet another emergency debate because of the Liberal government's failure to fight for our economic interests, whether at home, around the world, or even with our closest allies.
As Canadians know, Canada's oil and gas sector suffered a tremendous blow with the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline project just a few months ago, on the first day in office of the new administration. Now another major threat, another major blow is looming and there has been inaction. Keystone was all about securing additional export market access for Canadian crude to help the struggling energy sector reach another market, help those workers and help secure a more stable and stronger price for a finite Canadian resource.
However, Line 5 is not a new project. It is not a diversification. It is a line that has been a consistent and critical supply line for Canada for decades. Now, because of the inaction of the Liberal government, this critical piece of our energy infrastructure is at risk. Why are there emergency debates all the time about our economy with this government? Because Liberals are always slow, ideological and they are eroding our prosperity.
Tens of thousands of good jobs in Ontario and Quebec are at risk. As we begin planning to rebuild our economy and get Canadians back to work after COVID-19, we must do everything possible to protect these jobs.
Enbridge's Line 5 carries Canadian oil east, running through Wisconsin and Michigan. It supplies half of the oil needs of Quebec and Ontario. Members heard right. Half of Ontario's and Quebec's oil supply is at risk.
Tens of thousands of good jobs across Ontario and Quebec are at risk alongside another potential bruising blow for our energy sector in the west. As we begin planning to rebuild our economy and get Canadians back to work across this country after COVID-19, we must do everything possible to protect and secure these jobs.
Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline carries Canadian oil east, running through Wisconsin and Michigan, supplying about half of the oil needs for Ontario and Quebec: half. For decades the pipeline has safely shipped Canadian energy to be refined in Sarnia into gasoline, propane, diesel, home heating fuel and aviation fuel.
Line 5 also feeds into Line 9, which carries oil to refineries in Montreal and Lévis to meet Quebec's supply needs.
The governor of Michigan has ordered the pipeline shut down by next week. While this move clearly violates the transit pipelines treaty, which President Biden supported consistently as a U.S. senator, the Liberals have been silent. Once again they are refusing to take a strong, clear and consistent stand for Canadian workers.
Who are those Canadian workers? Some 6,500 families in the Sarnia area rely directly on jobs related to Line 5. Another almost 24,000 jobs in the wider southwestern Ontario region could be impacted and thousands more across Ontario and Quebec and thousands more in the west. They will also see yet another indifferent approach from the Liberal government toward the well-being of that part of our country.
Tens of thousands of jobs in Ontario and Quebec are at risk. As Canadians begin to return to work after COVID-19, we must do everything possible to protect these jobs.
On the heels of the disappointment for thousands of families in connection to Keystone, we cannot allow the Liberal government to fail thousands more families by allowing its inaction to lead to more cancellations and uncertainty.
Our country was dealt a significant blow with the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline on the first day of the U.S. administration. We cannot afford another blow by those administrations, whether at a state and federal level in the U.S., to cancel the safe, reliable and effective Line 5. Our economy cannot afford it. Our national unity cannot afford it.
In his first economic speech as Prime Minister in 2016, the Prime Minister mocked our natural resource industry. He said that we are resourceful now. In the years since, the Prime Minister and his ideological government have consistently undermined our energy sector. The process has divided our country and is slowly eroding our prosperity.
It is time for a government that is proud of our resources, our innovation and the tens of thousands of Canadian families who depend on our energy sector. This sector, as my friend the Conservative whip reminded Canadians, is a world leader in environmental and social governance, or ESG. We are the guiding light for ethical extractive industries.
We are also the world leaders on indigenous partnerships and participation. I like to call it “ESGI”. We should be very proud of that innovation. This world-leading ESGI resource flows through Line 5 and powers homes, our economy and employment for thousands of families in Ontario and Quebec, truly showing the tremendous potential of Canada's energy industry.
Without Line 5, the main source of propane used in Ontario and Quebec is at risk. Many farmers use propane to heat homes, barns and commercial greenhouses, as well as to dry grain.
Even if other sources of propane are found, they could be very costly. Sourcing propane elsewhere could drive up the cost of agriculture production and the cost of food.
It is time to get Canadians back to work. We cannot abandon Canadian jobs.
We are in a jobs crisis and a health crisis. Our economic recovery from COVID-19 depends on vaccines. We know how that has been going. Even the member for Kingston and the Islands wants his team to do better there. It also depends on a real plan to get Canadians back to work in all sectors of our economy and in all regions of our country.
We also need to be proud and get behind projects and investments that will accelerate this economic recovery, once again in every sector and in every region. The Liberal government can no longer pick and choose which jobs it feels are worth supporting. It is undermining the national unity of this country. It is undermining the prosperity we owe our children. We have to stop this divisive and ideological approach.
The royalties and tax revenues received by the governments because of our energy resources contribute to the social fabric we rely on, especially during the pandemic, and we will need to rebuild with these same revenues. The cancellation of Line 5 would mean a significant cut to revenues and the potential for us to rebuild our hospitals and our health care system.
We need Line 5 for our long-term care facilities.
It is an essential part of the Canadian energy supply chain, and quite frankly, an essential part of the Canadian economy. The result of a cancellation would be clear. There would be immediate and alarming fuel shortages, major job losses across Ontario and Quebec, increased rail and truck transportation of oil, increased fuel prices and greater environmental risks.
The Liberal government has failed to work effectively with three U.S. administrations, and it failed to stand up for the Canadian energy supply chain. It does not seem to care. The Prime Minister needs to value the things we produce in Canada, the things people do, getting their hands dirty to build things.
We are resourceful. We are resource rich and even richer in the hard work Canadians contribute to provide for their families and their country. Whether it is in Fort McMurray, Sarnia or Lévis, Canadians, all families, deserve an economic recovery.
Canadians in the regions and small towns deserve a government that will respect them. Blue-collar workers deserve a government that is proud of them.
They deserve a government that is proud of what we do in this country. On this side of the House, we are proud. We will fight for Line 5 and every job in this sector.