Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to have a chance to rise and ask a question of my colleague from Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne. I have not had a chance to take the floor today. It is difficult when the rounds are 10 minutes and five minutes for questions.
I want to put on the record that I plan to vote for this motion and I am grateful that it has been put forward. I am particularly concerned with an aspect that, as the member for Timmins—James Bay noted, is not mentioned, which is a real driver of inflation, and that is the war profiteering of the big oil and gas companies. Their profits are entirely due to Putin invading Ukraine, and they are astonishing. The big five, ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, Shell and Total S.A., in one quarter, the second quarter of this year, made $55 billion U.S. As Eric Reguly with The Globe and Mail noted, it is not as if they showed any business acumen to get this money. They got it because of war.
Does my hon. colleague know if her government is prepared to put a tax, as recommended by the UN Secretary-General, on these excess war profits and distribute that money to the people who need it?