Madam Speaker, my second petition notes that we are in both a climate and an affordability crisis, and that this crisis is exacerbated by oil and gas companies that are gouging Canadians at the pumps and making record-breaking profits.
The petitioners note that the five largest oil and gas companies in Canada alone made $38 billion in 2022. They did it by gouging Canadians. They increased their profits by 18¢ a litre, from 26¢ a litre to around 42¢ a litre. They note that some folks talk a lot about the carbon tax. That went up around two cents a litre, while these profits went up 18¢ a litre. They also note that other countries around the world have put in place a windfall profit tax on the profits of oil and gas industries, where this has happened in other places around the world.
The petitioners have two very reasonable calls to action. They call on the Government of Canada to immediately put in place a 15% windfall profit tax on these excess profits and to reallocate the revenues generated toward programs that would make life more affordable for folks across the country, for example, by investing in improved service and more reliable public transit, and by investing in helping Canadians retrofit their homes.