Debates of April 14th, 2026

Opposition Motion—Fuel Taxes

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, right now Canadians are being hit twice, first at the grocery store and then at the gas pump. Canadians are paying close to two dollars a litre for gas, a 35% increase that follows them everywhere: to work, to school and to the people they love. Here is what makes it worse: While Canadians are paying more, the Liberal government is profiting more. Because of rising gas prices, the federal government is expected to take in billions of dollars in additional tax revenue, which is money it never budgeted for. While it rakes in the profits, Canadians are left with higher bills they did not budget for.

Let us be clear. This does not stop at the pump. Higher fuel costs ripple through everything. They raise the cost of shipping. They raise the cost of farming. They raise the cost of food. Therefore, when Canadians walk into the grocery store, they are paying not just for groceries but also for failed Liberal government policy, which continues today.

Conservatives are happy we were able to force the government to cut some of the the taxes on fuel, but these measures hardly satisfy even a quarter of the affordability measures we have demanded. Not only that, but these half-baked measures are only for the summer. Clearly the Prime Minister is buying a short-term political win while leaving Canadians with a long-term affordability crisis. We have all known for some time that the Liberal affordability crisis is not seasonal, so Canadians are asking a simple question: Why is the Liberal government profiting while Canadian families are struggling?

Other countries, such as Australia, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Germany and Austria have already moved to provide direct relief at the pump. They immediately lowered fuel taxes. They stepped back and gave their people breathing room, because in extraordinary times, government should take less, not more. Therefore, I reiterate our entire ask for the rest of the year: Give Canadians a break, drop all federal taxes on gas and diesel, and let Canadians keep more of what they earn, because they need it now more than ever.

The government promises its programs can deliver affordability, but it is an economic truth that a government cannot spend its way to affordability. Each dollar spent by the Liberal government was first a dollar that belonged to and was taken from a hard-working Canadian. While it stands to take billions of dollars in additional revenue from higher gas prices it did not budget for, Canadians are being crushed by increasing grocery bills and gas prices they have not budgeted for.

The Liberals respond by saying that this is a global problem and that it is sort of out of their control, but Canadians know better. When we look at the facts, we see that this is not just a global problem. It is a made-in-Canada problem as well.

Canada has the highest food inflation in the G7, in a country with some of the most fertile land on earth. We have the highest food inflation among our peers. The same is true for energy. Canada is one of the most resource-rich countries in the world. We have massive oil and gas reserves, yet Canadians are paying some of the highest prices. That is because for years the Liberal government has blocked development, discouraged investment and choked growth in our energy sector. It continues to do so.

Basic economics tells us that when costs go up, prices go up, and when supply is constrained, prices go up as well. Canadians are living that reality every single day. If we layer on the years of excessive spending, the deficits piled on deficits, and a dollar that does not stretch the same way it used to, what is the result? It is higher fuel costs, higher food costs and lower purchasing power.

The Liberal government says, “Trust us. We will take your money but will give it back at some point.” Canadians do not want a middleman taking a cut. Canadians do not want affordability filtered through Liberal bureaucracy. They are saying clearly and firmly to stop taking so much in the first place, because affordability does not come from handouts. It comes from letting people keep what they earn and from building an economy that actually works.

The Prime Minister has doubled the deficit run by Trudeau. Now, with gas prices soaring, he is clinging onto the expected billions of dollars in additional revenue to make a tiny dent in his projected $80-billion deficit. The Liberals' announcement affects only a third of the taxes on fuel they collect, for a third of the year.

The unchanged impact is the GST on fuel costs of seven cents per litre and other taxes. While the Liberal government could have budgeted but did not, Canadians are paying higher gas prices for which they could not have budgeted. The Liberal government, of course, is raking in billions in profits. Canadians are left paying for the Liberal government's reckless fiscal irresponsibility.

This weekend, I spoke with a couple in my community whom I have known for nearly 20 years. They are seniors, and they still live in the same home that I used to visit when I was in high school. They told me that they needed to return to work, as their pensions are no longer enough to cover basic essentials. Their pensions do not go as far. Their grocery bills have doubled. Their gas bills keep climbing. After a lifetime of work, they have had to go back to work, not because they want to but because they have to.

There was a time in this country when seniors could retire with dignity, when they could trust that what they had saved was enough and that their government would protect, not erode, their standard of living. However, today inflation is eating away at those savings, and rising costs are forcing impossible choices. Do seniors fill the tank, or do they fill the fridge? Do they visit their grandchildren, or do they stay at home to save gas? This is not the Canada they built.

It is not just our seniors. Young families are feeling it too. Parents are looking at their children, and they asking what kind of country they are leaving behind, because they remember a different Canada, a Canada where we could afford groceries, we could afford gas and we could afford a life. Today, a simple trip to the grocery store can cost $300 for two bags of food, then we go to the pump and get hit again.

Canadians are tired of being squeezed, of being told this is normal and of being told to trust the Liberals to restore affordability. Whom is this affordability for? Where are the homes the Liberals promised? Very few people in my riding benefit from the grocery credit, while everyone pays more at the pump and for groceries. My neighbours want the government to have the humility to understand one simple truth: It cannot spend its way to affordability. Each dollar spent by the Liberal government was first a dollar belonging to and taken from hard-working Canadians.

Let us do the right thing. Give Canadians a real break at the pump, cut all taxes on gas and diesel for the rest of the year and start putting money back where it belongs, which is in the pockets of the people who earned it first, because in this country, the Liberal government should not profit from the hardship of its people.

[Carlos Leitão, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, we have just had a very clear exposé of why we cannot be in favour of the Conservative motion. First of all, the recent increase in gasoline prices comes as a result of the war in the Middle East. Most importantly, as my hon. colleague mentioned very clearly, the heart of the issue is the fact that she said, “affordability does not come from handouts.”

We believe that direct government assistance and social programs are key components of the government's role and of making life more affordable for Canadians. Does my hon. colleague find any virtues in things like the Canada child benefit?

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we are calling for long-term, permanent solutions to affordability. Programs and handouts do not address long-term affordability issues. They do not target the cost of living. A handout will not address the cost of living. This is something the member must understand.

What Conservatives are calling for are permanent, long-term solutions, removing the taxes that are driving up the cost of everything, encouraging hard work and encouraging Canadians to actually keep their money, to be responsible, to open up businesses and to create wealth. That is how we grow the economy permanently, not through short-term programs.

The reality with the program the member opposite mentioned is that only one out of 20 kids benefits from it.

[Kurt Holman, Conservative, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to applaud my colleague from Newmarket—Aurora for her fantastic speech. I agree with her that the Liberals should suspend the fuel taxes until the end of the year, not only to help just the people of London—Fanshawe, who I have heard from, who are concerned about the rising fuel prices, but also to help Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

I wonder if my colleague could elaborate on the benefit of suspending fuel taxes until the end of the year.

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we are in a time when Canada has big problems, and we need to address them immediately and thoroughly.

With our proposal today, we are outlining a wholesome proposal to address the affordability problem and the rising cost of gas that every Canadian across our country feels. As I mentioned, Canadians feel it at the grocery store and then feel it again at the pump. It follows Canadians who do not have a choice but to go to work and drop off the kids at school. These costs impact Canadians all day, every day.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette—Manawan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have two quick questions for my colleague.

First, the total cost of everything being proposed here amounts to $13 billion annually, which would increase the deficit by that amount. Would it not have been better to propose more targeted measures?

Second, with regard to the clean fuel standard, the motion says that it would save seven cents per litre. These calculations are based on the price difference between biofuels and oil at a time when oil was cheaper. However, with the current price surge, the two are now the same price. This means we go from saving seven cents per litre to saving nothing.

Why does my colleague want to keep this part of the motion?

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the budget, I do not believe that the government should be benefiting from a surge in prices and taking in this tax revenue at the cost of Canadians. The government had the opportunity to budget properly, to lower expenses and to attempt to balance the budget in that way, not at the cost of Canadians.

[Carlos Leitão, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, before I begin my speech, I must inform you that I will be sharing my time with the member for Mont-Saint-Bruno—L'Acadie.

It is my turn to speak to the motion moved by our Conservative colleagues. I will try to cover five themes if I can stay on track and maintain my focus.

First of all, I would like to remind all of my colleagues that the Conservative Party's motion contains four parts. The Conservatives are calling on the government to remove the fuel excise tax; to remove the GST on gasoline and diesel for 2026; to permanently remove what the Conservatives call the fuel standards tax, which is actually the fuel standards regulations; and to permanently remove the industrial carbon tax. According to their calculations, these four measures could lower the price of gas by 20¢ to 25¢ per litre. Obviously, we do not agree with those proposals, and we will be voting against the motion.

I would like to explain why we are in this situation. I believe it has been said multiple times, but it is important to reiterate nevertheless. The price of crude oil has increased from around $60 a barrel at the end of February to around $100 today due to the war in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. This situation is extremely worrisome because we do not know how it will end. I doubt that anyone today can claim that things will go back to the way they were. No one can say that, and neither can the possibility that the price of oil will reach $150 a barrel be dismissed out of hand. We do not know.

The Strait of Hormuz is still closed. Twenty per cent of the world's oil production transits through the strait. Some extremely important segments of the global economy, notably in Asia, are starting to experience fuel shortages. The current oil crisis is probably as big, or even bigger, than the oil crises the global economy has experienced in recent decades. This is not a minor disruption. It is a major shock, and we do not know how all of this will be resolved.

Furthermore, in retaliation for the U.S. attack, Iran destroyed a lot of energy infrastructure in the Gulf countries. Even if the Strait of Hormuz reopened tomorrow morning, fuel transportation could not resume as it was before February 28. This is an extremely worrying period for the global economy. We need to plan our next steps carefully because we simply do not know what the future holds for energy.

In Canada, we have enough energy for our own needs. There will clearly be no energy shortage in Canada, unlike in the 1970s. However, it is also clear that it is very difficult to determine the price of energy at this time. That is the context in which we find ourselves. It is important that we take it into consideration when developing public policies to support Canadians, who are indeed facing a major increase in gasoline prices, which will have repercussions on the entire food supply chain, on transportation and so on.

One part of the Conservative motion calls for a suspension of the fuel excise tax. As the Prime Minister announced, we are going to do that. However, we cannot implement the other parts of the motion. I will try to explain why I believe that we cannot and must not do so.

First, we are being asked to suspend the GST, which is a tax that was actually created and implemented by a Progressive Conservative government in the early 1990s. It is a value-added tax. This tax is effective because it is set at a relatively low rate and has very few exemptions or exceptions. That is what makes the GST work. In Europe, for example, the value-added tax is set at a much higher rate and includes a complex system of exemptions and exceptions that make it extremely difficult to manage.

First, it is clearly better to have a consumption tax than an income tax. Next, if we have a consumption tax, then it is better to keep the rate relatively low but allow for very few exceptions and exemptions. It has to be easy to administer. Let us be clear: Such a value-added tax must also support, promote and give preference to local and national producers over imported products. That is why it is so complex. We have to think twice or three times before we start making changes to the Canadian GST. It is best not to go there.

We also think that another part of the Conservative motion is completely inappropriate. It has to do with what they call the clean fuel tax, but what is actually the clean fuel regulations. What our friends are proposing is to completely eliminate those regulations. It is 2026. I think we need to continue to have clean fuel regulations so that the air in cities and rural areas is breathable. We do not want to go back to the good old days when people could burn just about anything and with no regard for the impact it would have on the air we breathe. Our American neighbours seem to want to go back to those days. No, we need to keep these regulations in place to make the air breathable. Our children need to be able to breathe.

Regarding the industrial carbon tax, I have always thought that Conservatives could understand how this kind of tax works. Ultimately, it is based on the pricing system. The pricing system sends the necessary signals to allocate resources in an economy. As I have already said before in the House, this is something that has been used by well-known socialists, such as Brian Mulroney with Canada's Clean Air Act or Ronald Reagan and the Clean Air Act. I still think it is important that we have such mechanisms in an advanced and open economy like Canada's.

In closing, as I said earlier, we are still going to suspend the fuel excise tax. It will provide a little boost. We have already implemented other measures to help consumers, including the Canada groceries and essentials benefit, which transfers funds directly into the accounts of the Canadian families most affected by affordability issues. That is a targeted program that we can improve in the future if necessary.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to the parliamentary secretary's speech. He talked about the rising cost of oil on the global markets and how that is affecting the price of gas and diesel fuel here. What he did not say is that when the price of fuel rises, the amount of taxes charged on that fuel also increases significantly. He did not talk about the $10 billion in extra revenue that the Liberal government is going to be realizing on the increased pricing.

Yesterday, I asked the Prime Minister if he would consider four things: removing the federal excise tax on gas and diesel, removing the fuel standard tax, removing the industrial carbon tax and removing the GST for the balance of the year. That would have put $5 billion back into the pockets of Canadians at 25¢ a litre. The Prime Minister has only gone part of that way, with 10¢ a litre on gas and four cents a litre on diesel fuel.

Can the parliamentary secretary tell me why the government is only putting that measure in until September—

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

I interrupt the member to give the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry a chance to respond.

[Carlos Leitão, Liberal, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is very difficult at this point. We cannot make the assumption that the government would get $16 billion. We do not know if the oil shock will lead us into a recession and if government revenues would actually go down. It is very audacious on the Conservatives' part to say so clearly that there would be a $16-billion windfall in revenue. We just do not know that at this point.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette—Manawan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the hon. parliamentary secretary on his content-rich speech. I would like to hear his thoughts on what tax specialist Luc Godbout said a few months ago about how we need to resist the temptation to lower the gas tax for either budget-balancing or environmental reasons.

I would add to that the pressure that will be felt when the fuel excise tax comes back into effect on Labour Day. Will public pressure not be so strong that it will be difficult to bring that tax back in September?

Finally, would it not have been wiser to implement targeted measures for the trucking industry and for people in greater need, for example, rather than temporarily suspending the fuel excise tax?

[Carlos Leitão, Liberal, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am very familiar with Luc Godbout, who my colleague quoted. I am very familiar with his comments and I think that, generally speaking, he is right. However, we are currently experiencing such a major shock that we had to do something quickly. The quickest measure to put in place was to suspend the fuel excise tax.

[Ned Kuruc, Conservative, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleague on the other side can advise his colleagues to stop calling us obstructionists, because today we have witnessed what a healthy opposition can do. We have held their feet to the fire. We have been calling for zero tax on gas and now the Prime Minister has actually made an announcement that he is going halfway until Labour Day. We want zero taxes for the whole year. Make no mistake, this would not have happened if Conservatives had not brought this issue forward.

I would like my colleague to acknowledge that if it were not for the Conservatives, we would not be seeing relief at the pumps today.

[Carlos Leitão, Liberal, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Mr. Speaker, like everybody in this room, we can read the newspapers. We can see what is going on at the gas pumps and the impact of higher global oil prices, so we have to do something. The fastest way to assist consumers is by suspending the excise tax. If other measures need to be taken later on, we will consider them as well.

[Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba, Liberal, Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, our government has stepped up its efforts to make life more affordable for Canadians because we need to take action and get moving. The current global environment is evolving rapidly, and there is a lot of uncertainty around the global economy. Canada is no exception, and Canadians and Canadian businesses are seeing this every day. Our government is focusing on what it can control: building a stronger economy and making life more affordable for Canadians. We have introduced a number of measures to lower the cost of living and enable Canadians to keep more of their hard-earned money.

Let us talk about the excise tax announcement. It is great that the Leader of the Opposition made sure to mention gas prices in the motion. The military conflicts going on around the world are affecting refinery capacity and oil and gas transport networks. The government is mindful of the fact that while these conflicts may be happening in distant lands, consumers have been forced to pay higher prices at the pump here in Canada. We know that this is creating uncertainty, causing stress and putting pressure on families trying to make ends meet.

As the Prime Minister indicated earlier today, our government will provide significant relief for the cost of fuel by suspending the federal excise tax on gasoline and diesel starting on Monday, April 20, and until Labour Day on September 7. Currently, the federal excise tax is 10¢ per litre for gasoline and four cents per litre for diesel. The suspension of this tax is expected to save Canadians about $5.75 on a full 50-litre tank of regular gasoline and up to $2.30 on a full tank of diesel. This represents total relief of more than $2.3 billion. The price of gas, among many things, reflects current circumstances abroad that have an impact on Canada, which requires targeted intervention from the government to help Canadian families.

By reducing the cost of gas and diesel directly at the pump, we are taking a clear step to support families as they face the current hardships. The measure will cost a little more than $2 billion, so it will not jeopardize government finances or our other efforts to build the strongest economy in the G7.

The provinces also have their own gas and diesel taxes and, if they want, they can implement their own measures too. What we are doing is using the federal fiscal situation, which is better due in part to higher oil prices, to provide targeted support to households and businesses. Note that this support is in addition to other measures already in place. We know that too many families are struggling to make ends meet at the end of the month. People do not need abstract promises. They need real, immediate and lasting support. That is exactly what our government is providing.

That is why we launched the new Canada groceries and essentials benefit, which replaces and improves upon the old GST credit. It will provide more support to more than 12 million low- and modest-income Canadians.

In real terms, starting this spring, a one-time payment equivalent to a 50% increase in the annual value of the GST credit for 2025 and 2026 will be paid out. That amounts to $3.1 billion of immediate relief in the pockets of families. In addition, as of July of this year, the value of the benefit will increase by 25% for five years, adding another $8.6 billion in additional support. In total, a family of four will receive $1,890 this year and around $1,400 per year over the next four years. A single person will receive up to $950 this year and about $700 in subsequent years.

This is real support to pay for groceries, bills and everyday expenses. That is also why we eliminated the federal consumer fuel charge, a measure that has been in place for a year now and was formalized with the passage of Bill C‑4. Under that same bill, we also lowered taxes for nearly 22 million Canadian families by reducing the rate of the first personal income tax bracket from 15% to 14% in 2026. That is a savings of $420 per person and $840 for a two-income family.

Under Bill C‑4, we also eliminated the GST for first-time homebuyers on new homes valued at $1 million or less, while reducing the GST for homes valued between $1 million and $1.5 million. We have also reached an agreement with the Government of Ontario to further reduce taxes for homebuyers.

The government has also taken concrete measures to make the banking system fairer and more affordable for Canadians. Since March, consumers can no longer be charged more than $10 in fees when there are insufficient funds in their personal chequing account to cover a payment. Banks can no longer charge this fee more than once over a two-business-day period for the same account. Most importantly, no NSF fees can be charged when the overdraft is less than $10. This is another way our government is helping Canadians where it really counts.

The government's measures to promote affordability, including the one announced today, clearly demonstrate how the government is helping Canadian families. As the Prime Minister said today, we cannot control what other nations do, but we can control what we build for ourselves. What we are doing here is building a strong and affordable Canada, so that our country has the strongest economy in the G7.

[Ned Kuruc, Conservative, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals came out today, but I do not think they were prepared for the Prime Minister to announce that he was going to adopt Conservative policy, and so most of their debate has been on everything but cutting the gas tax. The Liberals and the Prime Minister have come halfway: half the taxes until Labour Day.

My question to the member is: Why not cut all the taxes for the rest of the year and save Canadians even more money, because they have been listening, they have been emailing and they want real relief at the pumps? Why not go all the way, all the taxes for the rest of the year, and not just halfway to Labour Day?

[Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba, Liberal, Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are a responsible government, and our actions are targeted and well thought out. For now, our government has made a timely decision to adapt as challenges arise. For now, the measure we have taken addresses the immediate needs of families.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette—Manawan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed to find that, when members are speaking French in the House, English-speaking members often speak louder than those speaking French. This happened during my colleague's speech, and it is happening at this very moment as I prepare to ask a question. This occurs on both sides of the House. It is a deeply saddening situation.

Considering the current spike in gas prices, should we not be doing more to limit our dependence on the oil economy, such as by expanding the electrification of transportation and by doing more than what is currently being done?

[Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba, Liberal, Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as a government, we make responsible decisions based on the budget that was announced.

Our government made a decision while taking care not to compromise the budget in progress or create a deficit that could not be paid down. We therefore took targeted action, effective until September 7, to see how the situation would evolve.

Our government is pragmatic. If things change, we can come back here and improve on our decisions, as needed.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience]

Mr. Speaker, I commend my hon. colleague on his speech.

The Conservative motion is based on the assumption that the price of oil will stay the same until the end of year.

Can my hon. colleague explain why this assumption is incorrect, given that we have no idea how the situation will unfold?

[Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba, Liberal, Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we always make decisions based on the available data.

The future price of oil, for which data has not yet been released and remains unknown, cannot serve as the basis for a decision. Our government decided today to lower the price of fuel because the data is known and has been published and we have the budget to do it.

That is why we will always be a pragmatic, flexible and responsive government that helps Canadians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to fight to eliminate the gas tax for the rest of the year so that every Canadian who drives will save 25¢ a litre, $20 per fill-up and $1,200 every year. This is part of our efforts as Conservatives to make life more affordable and put more money back in the pockets of hard-working people. We want to literally power our economy with more affordable gas and reverse the inflation we have seen over the past 10 years under the Liberals.

Before I address that issue, I want to point out that, yesterday, the Prime Minister manufactured a costly majority that Canadians rejected in the last general election. He did it through backroom deals that run counter to the interests of the people, with the help of politicians who defied the choices of their own voters in the election. Canadians did not choose this majority. The Prime Minister has imposed it through backroom deals. This now forces the Prime Minister to deliver results. He has been in power for a year now, and it is important to look at the results achieved so far. He has doubled the deficit, given Canada the worst food inflation in the G7, the worst housing costs in the G7, the worst household debt in the G7 and the only shrinking economy in the G7. No pipelines have been approved, and no crime legislation has passed. He replaced the old carbon tax with a new one, but not everyone is suffering. Liberal insiders continue to profit from big contracts, the appreciation of their investments, and the list goes on.

It is the same thing with the gas tax. The federal government gets 25¢ per litre for the gas tax. Today, the Prime Minister announced that he will be returning only a fraction of that amount to consumers, who are already overtaxed. He announced that he will simply suspend a third of federal taxes for a third of a year. We proposed eliminating all federal gas taxes for the rest of the year. Our Conservative approach would have allowed Canadians to save a lot more and would have provided relief to consumers, who need to keep more money in their pockets. We said that the government could recover the lost revenue in a number of ways. For example, because the oil companies are posting higher profits as a result of higher prices, the government is collecting much more revenue, enough to cover the revenue lost as a result of eliminating the gas tax for the entire year. Unfortunately, the Liberals have not yet managed to reverse the inflation that is costing Canadians so much.

While it is true that the Government of Canada did not cause the increase in world prices, it is also true that prices are a lot higher in Canada than in the United States, and taxes are the reason for that discrepancy. The Liberals continue to pursue an inflationary policy. The Prime Minister has created a budget deficit of close to $75 billion, which is a lot more than the deficit left by Justin Trudeau. He is keeping all the anti-development laws in place and by so doing, he is preventing our economy from growing.

The Liberals expect Canadians to give up, grow complacent and fade into the background so that they can exercise power without accountability. That is not going to happen. Our country and its people are worth fighting for. We are going to keep fighting for people to have housing, food and affordable energy. We are going to keep fighting for their safety. We are going to keep fighting for resource sector workers and for our soldiers. We are going to keep up our efforts to advance the interests of ordinary Canadians. I am going to keep leading the charge here, in the House, across the country and in the next election, when Canadians will take back control. We are going to rebuild the country that we know and love, and make it affordable for everyone. That is our goal.

I have risen today to address our Conservative proposal to eliminate all federal gas taxes for the rest of the year, saving families roughly 25¢ a litre, $20 per fill-up, and $1,200 between now and Christmas.

However, before I address that, let me just address that the Prime Minister has manufactured a costly majority that Canadians rejected in the last election. He did it through dirty backroom deals against the interests of the people, with the help of politicians who betrayed their voters and their citizens. The Liberals wanted a majority. Well, absolute power comes with absolute responsibility. They will actually have to get things done. They will have to do so without blaming others, and they will have to start now. So far, that has not been the case.

Here are the results of the Prime Minister. He has doubled the deficit and given Canada the worst food inflation in the G7, the worst household debt in the G7, the only shrinking economy in the G7 and the worst housing costs in the G7. No pipelines are approved, and no changes to the Criminal Code are approved. He has not replaced the carbon tax, but rather brought in a new carbon tax that, while currently lower, will rise higher and is much broader.

He promised to cut red tape and remove barriers to building. He has not removed a single Trudeau-era anti-development law, but stacked new laws on top of old ones. He has not removed a single government agency; he has created 12 new ones. He said that we were facing an existential crisis that required immediate action at unimaginable speeds. After Parliament, in just five days, rushed through massive, unprecedented legal powers for him to get things approved, he has not used those powers to approve a single solitary project of any kind almost a year later: nothing.

Speaking of projects, what about pipelines? What about the famous pipeline to the Pacific, the great symbol of our energy sovereignty? After a year of the Liberal Prime Minister promising unprecedented speeds, that project has no route, no permit, no builder, no timeline to start and no end date to be completed. Further, the only company that could potentially build it, Enbridge, has said that it is impossible to fill the pipeline, because the taxes and anti-production laws that the government has kept in place mean there will not be enough oil to run through it.

Finally, the Prime Minister has added another condition: that the Alberta people spend $20 billion on a carbon capture project that will lose money every year into eternity, a project that has never been done anywhere in the world and has no builder, no permit, no start date and no timeline. The promise is a phantom, another illusion.

The same is true with taxes. The federal government collects 25¢ a litre on gas and diesel. Today, the Prime Minister announced he will offer only a fraction of that back to overtaxed customers. In other words, he will only be suspending a third of the federal taxes for a third of the year. That is not good enough. Canadians cannot afford to put gas in their tanks. We want all gas taxes eliminated for the rest of the year to save Canadian families $1,200.

We will continue this fight. We know that the government has the money. It is getting $5 billion in extra revenues from the fact that the oil companies are making more profits and therefore paying more tax automatically and organically. That money should go back into the pockets of consumers, not into the coffers of government. We want this country to be affordable so that Canadians can fill their tanks, fill their grocery carts, fill their fridges and fill their stomachs without emptying their bank accounts. Now, the Liberals would ask Canadians to give up on this expectation, to lower their plans and to accept less.

We do not accept less. Canadians might be discouraged right now because of the current political situation, but let us say this: Canadians should not give up. We will continue the fight for Canadians to have affordable homes, affordable food and affordable fuel. We will fight for Canadians to have safe streets. We will fight for Canadians to have powerful paycheques and strong jobs. We will fight for our soldiers and law enforcement, who keep us safe.

I will continue to lead that fight in this House, across this country and in the next election, when we, as Conservatives, will work to restore the country that we all know and love.

[Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba, Liberal, Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the leader of the official opposition a question. Decisions are made gradually. One cannot make a decision unilaterally without weighing the consequences. That is why we always say that we can control what we do here at home.

Today, the Prime Minister decided on a measured approach to reducing the cost of gasoline in order to bring costs under control so that people's finances are not overly affected. People should not assume that a unilateral decision leads to orderly, structured action.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, a unilateral decision is called for because the federal government imposed these taxes unilaterally. The federal government can choose to keep these taxes or get rid of them. The member is wondering how the government will make up for the lost revenue. The answer is that the government is bringing in more revenue because oil companies' profits are going up in step with rising prices globally.

The question is, will the government choose to spend that revenue or leave it in consumers' pockets? Conservatives want to put it in Canadian consumers' pockets.