Madam Speaker, I cannot help but violently agree with my colleague's summation of the best way to turn the page on Justin Trudeau. It is amazing how the Liberals have forgotten that he ever existed, as if they were not here, all along the way, voting in favour of all the terrible policies that caused so much hardship, not just for western Canada and the energy sector, but also for Canadians from coast to coast.
We have had the massive inflation crisis, the crime crisis, the drug crisis and, of course, the energy crisis, where Canada has been forced to discount its natural resources because, thanks to Liberal policies, Canada no longer has an ability to get oil to growing markets in Asia where it would pay a premium for what Canada is selling. This would be a wonderful opportunity to show sincere commitment to change by undoing Liberal policies.
My colleague used the analogy of crime TV shows and movies, and of making something look like an accident. There is another theme in those types of movies where there are elements of a criminal underworld and the mobsters who run protection rackets. They come by someone's shop and throw a brick through the window. They then come back the next day and say, “Hey, we can make sure that nobody throws bricks through your windows.”
That is what the Liberals have done with energy policy. They have thrown bricks through the ability of private sector proponents of projects to get things built. They then come along, after billions of dollars have left Canada for other jurisdictions and, after Canadian energy companies choose to invest in South America, Asia, Africa and even in the Middle East, they say, “Hey, if you work with us, if you jump through new hoops and new hurdles, and allow the government to take ownership positions in energy projects, then you can get something built.” That is what we have seen with the MOU that was imposed on Alberta, forcing the Government of Alberta to agree to an industrial carbon tax and to paying billions of dollars of costs into the pathways project. That is completely unnecessary.
We now see a major development in the energy sector that Canada could take advantage of. Strathcona Resources pitches 250,000 barrels of oil per day on an export route to Asia. That is wonderful news. A private sector company is using its own money, not taxpayers' money, to push a project that would allow new exports to Asian markets, getting around the U.S. discount that Canadian producers have to face. There is only one thing standing in the way, and that is Bill C-48, the Liberal shipping ban. For people who have not heard about this before, the ban is a Liberal law that was brought in under the Trudeau government. It was voted for by all the members I see across the way who were there at the time, and it imposed a ban on Canadian energy being shipped off the west coast. This ban does not apply to U.S. tankers. U.S. tankers can come down from Alaska and take inland routes into U.S. refineries in the northwestern United States. This ban only applies to the loading of Canadian energy on Canadian ships leaving Canadian ports. It is a completely self-imposed double standard that means that no oil can flow through that northern route.
Why is that important? That northern route is closer to Asia. It is cheaper to ship through that northern route because it is a shorter distance. It is also a deeper water port. Right now, in order to handle the potential expansion of TMX and a southern route in the Vancouver port, they are going to have to dredge along the Second Narrows Bridge because they cannot load the tankers to full capacity. They would be too low and those tankers would not be able to go through that particular waterway. That is not a problem in the northern route. That northern route is already a deep water port.
This is a perfect example of the government causing a problem. This is hallmark Liberal politics. The Liberal policy causes a problem. The Liberal policies cause Canadian energy companies to abandon Canadian projects and to move Canadian dollars offshore to invest in other places. What is the solution to bad Liberal policy? It is more Liberal policy, more hoops and hurdles, bigger bureaucracies, and more red tape.
The Conservatives have a different approach. We believe we should treat the root cause of the problem. The root cause of the problem right now in the energy sector is not a lack of demand, a lack of expertise or even a lack of capital, since there are Canadian companies with lots of money to invest. It is a lack of confidence in being able to get anything built after 10 years of Liberal policies killing things and blocking things. We now live in a world where private sector investors would rather build pipelines in war zones than in Canada. They would rather deal with bombs and bullets than with bureaucracy. The Liberal solution is to come along and say that we have a new complicated scheme, a new Major Projects Office and new lists and new hurdles. The government is going to take an ownership share, with all the distorting effects that would have, and that is the only way forward.
Conservatives believe that, if we were to treat the root cause of the problem, which is to repeal bad Liberal policies, the bill we are debating today would be a huge step along that road. Let us lift the moratorium on Canadian shipping, put Canadian producers and exporters on a level playing field and get our resources to market.