Mr. Speaker, there are moments in public life when a government is tested not by what it says, but by what it does when people are hurting. This is one of those moments. Across the country, Canadians are not just frustrated; they are stretched to the breaking point. They are making trade-offs that no family in a prosperous nation should have to make. They are choosing between filling the tank and filling the fridge, between getting to work and paying the mortgage, between keeping the lights on and keeping food on the table. At the centre of that pressure is the simple and avoidable reality: the cost of fuel. Here at home, fuel is not a luxury. It is not discretionary. It is the lifeblood of our economy. It is how a nurse gets to a night shift. It is how a contractor gets to a job site. It is how food gets from the farm to shelf. When fuel costs rise, everything else rises, and yet while Canadians here at home are paying more, Ottawa's coffers are taking in more. The Liberal government is cashing in on higher oil prices while forcing Canadians to pay more at the pump, making work more expensive, family life more expensive and running a business more expensive.
Let me put it plainly. Canadians are being squeezed, and the Liberal government is profiting from that squeeze. That is why Conservatives are calling for zero tax on gas to give Canadians a break, not Liberal half measures that cut the tax half the way and for half the time.
Last week, when asked what he would do about rising gas prices, the Liberal Prime Minister said, “That's something we're looking at.” Canadians do not need a Liberal government that is looking. They need a government that is doing. While the Liberal Prime Minister is following gas prices, Canadians here at home are falling behind. Every day of delay is another day families fall further behind.
I want to tell the House about a woman I met in my riding of Richmond Hill South, a mother who works two jobs, one during the day and one on weekends. She does everything right. She budgets. She saves where she can. She does not ask for handouts. She only asks for a fair shot. Last week, she told me that filling up her car now costs her nearly $100. That is not a luxury vehicle. That is a basic car that gets her to work and gets her kids to school. She told me that she does not look at the total anymore, that she just stops when she cannot afford to keep going.
Think about that for a moment. In Canada, in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, we have people who cannot afford to fill their tank, not because of laziness, not because of poor choices, but because the Liberal government in Ottawa is piling taxes on top of rising global prices. That is wrong. It is economically wrong. It is morally wrong. It is fiscally unsustainable. Canadians deserve a break. That is why Conservatives are calling on the Liberal government to scrap the 25¢ per litre on gas for all of 2026, not just simply to meet us halfway.
Let us talk about some of the facts. Yes, global events like the conflict in the Middle East have driven up oil prices. That explains part of the increase. It does not explain why Canadians here at home are paying about 28¢ a litre more for fuel than Americans do just south of the border. That difference is not geography. It is not geopolitics. It is not destiny. It is a homegrown, made-in-Ottawa Liberal tax policy. It is the result of a Liberal government that has layered tax on top of tax on top of tax and expects Canadians to just absorb it.
While Canadians here at home are struggling with higher prices, the Liberal government is enjoying a windfall. According to a former Liberal economic adviser, every $10 increase in the price of a barrel of oil generates about $2 billion in additional federal revenue in Ottawa's coffers. In recent weeks, oil prices are roughly $45 to $50 higher than the pre-war baseline. When we crunch the numbers, that is close to $9 billion to $10 billion in additional revenue flowing into Ottawa's coffers, money that is coming directly from the higher costs here at home that Canadians are paying.
Here is the question. The Liberal government is making billions more because Canadians are paying more. Why is it not giving all of that money back and suspending all gas taxes for the rest of 2026?
Conservatives are offering a clear, practical and immediate answer. Take $5 billion of that windfall to Ottawa and give it back to Canadians by removing all federal taxes on gasoline and diesel until the end of 2026, not next year, not after another study, but right now. That means suspending the 10¢-per-litre federal excise tax. It means suspending the GST on fuel, which puts about eight cents per litre on gasoline and four cents per litre on diesel. It means permanently eliminating the so-called Liberal clean fuel standard tax, which is already costing Canadians seven cents per litre and is set to rise to 17¢ per litre.
Stacked together on top of one another, these Liberal taxes add up. They are crushing. When we remove them, Canadians will save about 25¢ per litre on gasoline and 21¢ per litre on diesel. That is about $20 every time a parent fills up a minivan. On average, that is more than $1,200 back in the pockets of a family of four by the end of the year. That is money for groceries and rent, and much-needed breathing room. Here is a key point. The Liberal government can afford to do the right thing, but it is choosing not to. Why will the Liberal government not borrow our Conservative ideas and provide immediate relief for Canadians here at home by scrapping all gas taxes and its beloved Liberal industrial carbon tax?
Right now, the priority of the Liberal government is clear. It is to take more, give less and hope Canadians do not notice. Canadians across the country are noticing. They notice it every time they see a higher total at the pump, every time a delivery fee goes up and every time the grocery bill climbs even higher, because rising fuel prices do not stay at the pump. They spread through the entire economy. When transportation costs rise, suppliers raise their prices. We are already seeing it. Just last week, we learned that food producers are now introducing these new fuel surcharges on top of the food products they sell. When suppliers raise their prices, grocers pass those costs on. When that happens, families here at home pay more.
Elevated fuel and transportation costs are compounding the affordability crisis faced by families after more than a decade of Liberal policies. Food banks are now seeing over two million visits per month, including from 700,000 children. A family of four is expected to spend $17,500 on food this year, which is $1,000 more than last year. Canada has become the food inflation capital of the G7, and that is not a title to be proud of. That is a warning sign, and it is directly linked to the policies of the Liberal government here at home.
According to a recent academic study, the Liberal industrial carbon tax is undermining the competitiveness of our agri-food sector and has contributed to food prices rising 48% faster in Canada than in the United States. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has confirmed that the Liberals' so-called clean fuel regulations alone are adding seven cents per litre this year, rising to 17¢ per litre by 2030. It is starting to sound a whole lot like the Liberal consumer carbon tax. On top of that, the Liberal industrial carbon tax is rising to $170 per tonne, costing workers over $1,100 per year, shrinking the economy by 1.3% and putting 50,000 Canadian jobs at risk. These are the real consequences of Liberal ideology. The Liberals can provide immediate relief to everyday Canadians by scrapping the Liberal industrial carbon tax and suspending the punishing 25¢ per litre of tax on gas, including the Liberal fuel standard tax for all of 2026.
Canada's affordability crisis is not an unintended consequence of global factors. This is the predictable result of deliberate Liberal policy choices here at home, choices that prioritize ideology over affordability and treat working Canadians as a revenue source rather than people to serve. Let us take a step back and look at the broader picture. After a decade of Liberal government, Canada is falling behind here at home. The OECD reports persistent weakness in business investment, GDP growth is projected to decline this year and, since 2015, Canada's GDP growth rates have lagged behind the United States. A recent report shows that business investment adjusted for inflation and labour force growth has declined since its 2014 peak. More than half of Canadians are not living in their ideal home, mortgage affordability continues to worsen across the country and young people are being completely priced out. This is not a blip. It is a pattern.
Here at home, Canadians are facing higher costs, lower growth and fewer opportunities and now, instead of course correcting, the Liberal government is doubling down. The Liberal Prime Minister told Canadians he would bring serious economic leadership and reverse the damage of the last Liberal prime minister, but Canadians here at home are still waiting while costs rise, while wages fall behind and while their government looks at their problem. Canadians have been pinching their pennies long enough. It is time for the Liberal government to pinch its own.
Other countries understand this. Australia, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Germany and Austria have all moved to cut fuel taxes to provide direct relief at the pump. Behind every statistic is a real person here at home, working hard, doing everything right and still falling behind. The mother of two working two jobs should not need a pay raise just to fill up her tank.