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.