Mr. Speaker, we are also dealing with inflation, where people are paying more for everything. There is that element. Also, in the trucking industry, for example, trucks cannot be converted to a different technology overnight. They must continue to be filled with diesel, which is more expensive. Would a measure targeting that aspect have been more effective and less costly?
I would note that what is being proposed today will cost over $13 billion per year. That is a lot of money, and it will all be added to the deficit. Is that really the most effective solution? We need to work on more targeted measures. The inflation caused by the war started by Donald Trump and his ally Israel is clearly having an impact, but is the solution to adopt measures like this one that will cost a fortune? What it boils down to is, should the deficit be increased? I do not believe it should.
We clearly need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and maybe find a better way to collect taxes from the oil companies, which are primarily foreign-owned. For every dollar of profit they earn, 75¢ leaves Canada. This merits investigation.