Mr. Speaker, as always, it is just such an honour to serve the amazing, hard-working residents of Essex who have put their trust in me to be their voice in this very uncertain time.
As I always say, I will continue to give all praise to my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Without Him, nothing is possible.
I want to say thanks so much to the amazing member for Prince Albert for his passion and his compassion for the residents of his area. I have not been able to visit his riding yet, although I hope to one day, but I have seen his work in action when he has come down to my riding. I want to thank him so much for his vision, his leadership and, quite frankly, his mentorship for myself.
It is not often that many of us have a whole bunch of friends, but a very dear friend of mine is going through an awful tough time right now. Her name is Fran Rankin. I just want to ensure that Fran Rankin's name is put on record in the Hansard. She is the most lovely wife to one of my other best friends, Mark Rankin. I just want her to know that we love her, Essex loves her, and we are bringing all our passion and support for her.
I will get into the business of the day. Really, what I am speaking about today is what I think about when I look at my children, who are 26, 25 and 23. I also have a grandchild, Levi, who just turned five. I think about the future we are leaving them. What legacy are we leaving for future generations? I always go back to this. I believe they just, quite frankly, do not have the same opportunity that we had growing up.
I bought my first house for $149,900 and had zero clue how I was going to pay for it. It was a brand new house with a finished concrete driveway. I thought, how in the world is this even possible? That was some 25 years ago. Unfortunately, what I am hearing now is more of, “Why even bother anymore? I just can't get ahead.” That is wildly sad.
I rise today to address a glaring disconnect between the government's rhetoric and the lived reality of Canadians. While the Liberal government has prioritized the word “affordable”, over four dozen times in budget 2025, for the people I represent, that word is losing its meaning. “Affordable” and “affordability” are good words, but they have begun to ring hollow for families because they lack concrete action. As a man of my word, I am urging the government to make good on its word and ensure that affordability actually translates into relief that Canadians can feel.
I know the government has claimed that it has acted faster and more comprehensively than our global peer countries in response to the increased price in gas, but in Essex, “faster” is not how we describe the rise in the cost of living, and “comprehensive” is not how we describe a tax relief plan that ignores the reality at the pump. I know the government has offered to cut taxes on fuel, which, by the way, affects only a third of the taxes on gas for a third of the year. While the Prime Minister has said that affordability is better now than it has been in recent years, the families in my riding are telling a different story.
Today, I am here to provide a reality check for the government and paint a picture of what affordability would actually look like for Essex residents by telling this House a few stories from real, everyday people who have written to me this year asking for help.
Consider a female auto worker in our region who writes, “As a person living in Kingsville, who commutes to Windsor five, sometimes even six times a week for work, I am asking you to help make life more affordable for your fellow Canadians. The price of gas is at an all-time high, and [the Prime Minister] is blind to what Canadians are currently going through: the lack of affordability and the cost of living crisis.” She is not asking for more rhetoric. She said, “I am reaching out to you today to ask that you help remove the tax on gas.” Further, in Belle River, the frustration is tied to our energy independence: “We need help with gas prices, especially when our gas doesn't come from the Middle East.”
These are not isolated complaints. They are cries for help from a region under immense pressure. When gas prices soar, they act as a tax on every single sector in our economy. As one father in Essex noted, “To the untrained eye there seems to be very little action to control the gas prices we are currently seeing and the resulting increase in the price of everything else a family needs to live. In my family, we have three jobs just to make ends meet. Why is the government not being more proactive in helping the current situation be more manageable for the hard-working middle- and lower-class families?”
In Amherstburg, that anxiety is turning into fear: “gas prices [are] currently getting to a level that is placing a significant financial burden on families.... For many of us in Essex County, driving is a necessity for work, school, and daily life. My fear is that...these prices will continue to rise, and start affecting other commodities such as food and other necessities.”
My constituents are right to be afraid. In Windsor-Essex, where our manufacturing and tool and die sectors are already facing an existential threat from foreign tariffs, high fuel costs are a weight they cannot carry. At the end of the day, the price at the pumps directly correlates with the cost of shipping food, homebuilding and the food that families can afford on the table. Affordability is not just a word for Essex residents. It is something they desperately need.
This is why we are calling on the House to end all federal taxes on gas and diesel for the rest of the year, including the GST, and permanently scrap the clean fuel standard. We must answer this Essex father's question: “Why is the government not being more proactive in helping the current situation be more manageable for the hard-working middle- and lower-class families?”
The government cannot claim that it lacks resources. It pocketed $8 billion in revenue windfall from high global oil prices, roughly $2 billion for every $10 increase on the price of a barrel, yet the response has been nothing shy of chump change. While the Liberals claim that affordability is better than it has been in years, their recent tax cut saved only 10¢ per litre on gas and four cents per litre on diesel. In contrast, the Conservative motion to cut costs at the pump by 25¢ per litre and save a family of four $1,218 per year is a common-sense solution. I know that because Australia, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Germany and Austria, to name a few countries, have already moved to cut fuel taxes or provide direct relief at the pump. Even our neighbours to the south have a competitive advantage because of these taxes. Canadians pay nearly 20% more for fuel than Americans: 20¢ more.
The burden on diesel, the fuel that powers our farmers and our supply chains, is even more nonsensical. As a resident in Amherstburg asked, “How is it possible that we are allowing the oil industry to charge more for diesel than for gasoline fuel?” The answer is clear. Diesel is more expensive because the Liberals have added more tax on diesel: a 10¢ federal excise tax, eight cents of GST and a seven-cent clean fuel standard. One Essex resident wrote me, “If diesel fuel comes down in cost, the transportation of goods will be less, which in effect should lower the cost of goods available for sale.” I could not agree more.
The government needs to exit its utopian world, where we just jet-set around the world and have conversations and photo ops, and instead look at what is happening on Canadian soil.
In closing, I am asking the government to let the middle class succeed by cutting all federal taxes on gas and diesel for the rest of the year, including the GST, and permanently scrap the clean fuel standard. Is it too much to ask? The Liberals have already profited $8 billion from windfall tax revenues. What we are proposing will save a family of four $1,218. As the member of Parliament for Essex, I am asking the House to listen to the voices of Essex residents and hear their struggles. They are hopeful, but they cannot hold the line forever.