Debates of Sept. 22nd, 2026

Canadian Fuel Affordability Act

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, John Nater]

Questions and comments.

The hon. member for Yellowhead.

[William Stevenson, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I listened intently to the hon. member's statement, and I agreed with everything he had to say there. My question to him would be this. Does he think it would be better if the Liberals actually had a long-term plan rather than making short-term, interim adjustments and things that are not going to necessarily last for the economy and for Canadian citizens?

[Amarjeet Gill, Conservative, Brampton West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with my hon. colleague. We are looking for a permanent solution for the problems that have been created in the last 11 years of Liberal government rule. We need to provide a better relief structure to Canadians and eliminate the industrial carbon tax, eliminate unnecessary taxes on business, cut red tape, do the needful things that help Canadians and bring Canada and Canadians to a point where they can live with good affordability, they can buy a house and they can have meat at the food table every single day.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the last question was a bit surprising. The government has dealt with and continues to deal with the issue of affordability. We understand it, and we continue to look at ways we can improve upon it. Today it is Bill C-38, dealing with the excise tax on gasoline. I am glad the Conservatives are supporting it, but we have also brought in a number of different measures, such as a tax break for the middle class, by which 20-plus million Canadians benefited, and a series of programs to address the issue of affordability for seniors who need dental work and for children in schools who need meals. However, the Conservative Party opposes those.

Can the member explain to the House, and through the House to his constituents, why the Conservatives do not support those aspects of affordability, feeding children in schools and providing dental services for low-income seniors?

[Amarjeet Gill, Conservative, Brampton West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we are always in for measures that are going to help Canadians. I agree with my colleague that Canadians on fixed incomes are especially hard hit by taxes on fuel. No Canadian should have to make the choice between heating or eating, nor between rent or dinner. We are going to continue to pressure the government to remove all the federal tax on gas and diesel until at least Canada Day 2027 to save Canadians up to 25¢ per litre.

Further to your question, whenever you are going to bring any pragmatic idea that is going to improve the health of Canadians in any aspect, we will support those measures, and we will continue to work for Canadians in this Parliament and beyond so they can have a better life in Canada.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, John Nater]

I will just remind the hon. member to address his comments through the Chair and not otherwise.

Resuming debate.

The hon. member for Québec Centre.

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec Centre, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful to have the opportunity to speak this evening to highlight the Government of Canada's efforts to make life more affordable. This very important piece of legislation, Bill C-38, is part of those efforts.

As we know, Canadians are having to cope with an increasingly complex and unpredictable world and, unfortunately, this world is also, in many respects, more dangerous and more expensive.

In view of this, the Canadian government continues to focus on what it can control: building a stronger Canadian economy, diversifying our foreign trade, forging more alliances with countries that share our values, ensuring responsible fiscal management and supporting Canadians in managing the cost of living.

Allow me to give a very concrete example. For several months now, shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has been disrupted. This has led to soaring oil prices, a sharp rise in gas prices and increased costs for other essential goods.

Did the Canadian government, or Canada, start this war in Iran? Of course not.

Has the Canadian government taken action, and should it take action, to reduce costs for Canadians? Of course it has, and it should.

Global conflicts and the persistent, significant disruptions to these supply chains stemming from the Middle East or elsewhere, including the conflict in Ukraine, are not things the Government of Canada can stop or even control.

However, what we can do here in Canada and in the House of Commons, and what we are already doing, is help Canadians who are bearing the brunt of these conflicts through no fault of their own.

The federal fuel excise tax has been suspended since April 20. Earlier in September, the Minister of Finance and National Revenue announced that the Canadian government had decided to extend the temporary suspension of the federal fuel excise tax until January 31, 2027, and then to apply a rate equal to 50% of the regular excise tax rate from February 1 to March 31, 2027. This will help reduce daily expenses for Canadians, particularly those related to road transportation and the food, agriculture, housing, construction, and delivery sectors.

The suspension of this tax is expected to save Canadians up to about $5.75 on a 50-litre tank of gas. These are real savings for families. It also means lower costs for truckers and businesses. This measure is expected to provide more than $2.4 billion in relief to Canadians in 2026–27.

By lowering the price of gas and diesel at the pump, the Government of Canada is taking real action to support all those who are currently facing very real challenges.

I want to point out that this temporary suspension of the federal excise tax builds on other measures that have already been announced and put in place. I will give an example. Even before the conflict in the Strait of Hormuz began, economies, businesses and workers in many countries, including Canada, were thrown into uncertainty by a historic increase in tariffs.

Is Canada responsible for the upheaval in global trade and the resulting rise in the cost of essential goods? Of course not.

Should the Government of Canada take action and has it done so? Of course it should, and it has.

To help Canadian families make ends meet, earlier this year, for example, we launched the new Canada groceries and essentials benefit. This new benefit is based on the GST tax credit and provides increased support to two million low- and modest-income Canadians. That is just the beginning. Starting in July of this year, middle- and lower-income Canadians received higher quarterly payments. The benefit will be increased by 25% for another five years and will add approximately $8.6 billion in additional support to families that are struggling to make ends meet, including middle-income and modest-income families.

In total, a family of four could receive up to $1,890 this year and then about $1,400 a year for the next four years. A single person could receive up to $950 this year and then about $700 a year for the next four years. This is real support. It is concrete and tangible. It is helping people buy groceries, pay bills and cover essentials.

That is not all. We also cut taxes for 22 million Canadians by lowering the tax rate for the first personal income tax bracket from 15% to 14%. In 2026, that reflects savings of $420 per person and $840 for a two-income family. We also eliminated the goods and services tax, or GST, for first-time homebuyers of new homes valued up to $1 million and reduced it for homes valued between $1 million and $1.5 million.

In addition, we made permanent Canada's national school food program, which is helping 400,000 children and their families access high-quality meals at home and at school, saving the parents of two children an average of $800 a year on groceries.

We have also taken very real action to improve the banking system's fairness and affordability for Canadians, especially those struggling to make ends meet. Since March, for example, consumers can no longer be charged more than $10 if their personal bank account balance is too low to cover a payment. In addition, non-sufficient fund fees cannot be applied if the account overdraft is less than $10.

This year, we are also going to begin automating the payment of federal benefits. This will help up to 5.5 million low-income Canadians get the benefits they need and are entitled to receive.

In conclusion, the Government of Canada is focusing on the things it can control, like building a stronger, more resilient Canadian economy, while at the same time helping Canadians who struggle in their daily lives under cost-of-living pressures caused by the many severe global disruptions that we are familiar with.

For all of these reasons, I sincerely ask all members of the House to vote in favour of the bill.

[William Stevenson, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I did not catch all of the member opposite's comments, but he talked about a lot of the programs the Liberals were spending money on. Would he not agree that it is better for the individual taxpayer, the consumer out there, to actually take less from the consumer and not tax them like the government does with this excise tax? Would it not be better to just not have the money taken away from them to move it around versus spending the money on all the other programs the Liberals have?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec Centre, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, we are doing two things. First, we reduced income tax for 22 million Canadians, which is quite a large number. It has been, unfortunately, opposed by the Conservatives. The second thing we are doing is helping those who struggle more than richer Canadians. The member has heard my list of measures. For example, the national school food program is helping thousands, in fact more than 10,000 children in my region, who otherwise would struggle to go to school with a full belly and therefore would also struggle to learn what they need to learn to become good citizens.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague astutely pointed out that the measure we are discussing this evening is tied to the current situation. He also talked about the measures the government has put in place to help people cope with the cost of living, even though we do not agree on everything.

However, there is one matter the Liberal government often overlooks, namely, the issue of seniors. Those who have suffered the most in the wake of the pandemic are seniors aged 65 to 74, who continue to suffer from inequity and whose purchasing power has never increased.

Since my colleague started off by saying that the government should help people when they are going through tough times or facing difficult economic conditions, does he agree with me that increasing old age security for people aged 65 to 74 would be a good measure?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec Centre, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful for such an excellent question. I want to briefly mention three points.

First, as my colleague is aware, OAS has been increased for people over the age of 75 in light of the very clear evidence that seniors over the age of 75 not only have greater needs, but also lower incomes, and that older women, among others, live in more precarious circumstances for a variety of reasons that are well understood.

Second, I want to mention the Canadian dental care plan, which helps approximately 25,000 people in his riding, including several thousand seniors. This represents savings of about $800 a year. I encourage my colleague—whose leader, unfortunately, opposes the Canadian dental care plan—to talk about it at length with the seniors in his riding when he sees them. I am sure he meets with them regularly.

The third point is automatic benefits. As I was saying, there are nearly 5.5 million Canadians whose tax returns will be processed automatically, which will maximize the chances for these seniors, for the most part, to receive the benefits they need.

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I remember very well that my colleague has visited me several times in my riding in the past.

We are talking about lowering gasoline prices by 10¢ per litre and diesel prices by four cents per litre, not to mention getting rid of the carbon tax. My colleague has also talked about the many programs that our government has put in place since the beginning.

Which program does he think is helping his constituents the most? Which one has the biggest impact on families and people in his region?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec Centre, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am always very pleased to hear and even see my colleague from Acadie—Bathurst. As my colleague knows, and as I have seen myself, his constituents really like him. They see him as an excellent MP who is on the ground and always there to advocate for his riding. It is a particularly important riding in northern New Brunswick. The Acadian community needs him, and he is always there to support it, despite all the challenges of serving a region that is a little farther from the major centres.

Speaking of the most important programs, I know that roughly 20,000 families in his riding receive the Canada child benefit. It reduces child poverty in his riding by 50%. He has been there to support that measure from the start.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in the House to represent the great residents of Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay. Their words and their feedback will always guide me in this chamber, as they do in this debate on Bill C-38.

For rural and remote communities like the one I represent, driving is a fact of life. It is not a choice. When I checked GasBuddy before coming to the House today, I found that regular gas was priced as high as $2.09 per litre and diesel was $2.95 a litre. Whether someone lives in Tulameen, Princeton, Keremeos, Cawston, Osoyoos, Rock Creek, Midway, Greenwood, Grand Forks, Christina Lake or Castlegar, a basic fact of life is that they drive, which means that almost everyone is paying high prices at the pump.

The journey I just described across my riding is 360 kilometres. Unlike the urban regions of the country that many Liberal colleagues across from me represent, there is no SkyTrain. There is no subway, no LimeBike and no e-scooter that my constituents can turn to and travel across our riding in.

Transportation costs are also affected by high gas prices. These costs then transfer to nearly every item on store shelves. Keeping prices down at the pump, as we have been speaking about for the past year, means keeping prices down on essential items at Walmart, Canadian Tire and Safeway. This is true not just for my constituents, but for anyone across the country who lives in a remote or rural region, from island communities to our Arctic territories.

This is why, since the spring, my colleagues and I on this side of the House have been arguing that at a time of higher gas prices, the result of both conflict abroad and policy decisions at home, it was of the utmost importance for all members of Parliament to act to reduce the price of gas where we can do so. No one is pretending it can or should magically fall to zero, but providing tax relief at the pump is the least we can do when so many Canadians are in need.

It is no coincidence that the lack of an affordable life is the number one thing I heard from my constituents this summer. I am guessing everyone else heard the same thing while they were in their ridings this summer. Of course, there were other issues, including health care, tariffs and wildfires. In my region, as many know, wildfires hit Summerland and the Penticton area tremendously. This was obviously what people talked about, but gas prices were very important because they have skyrocketed 25.7%, while overall energy costs have surged 16%. This pushed transportation costs up 7% while grocery prices rose 3%.

A recent poll found that 63% of Canadians oppose the Liberals bringing back the fuel excise tax, including 43% who strongly oppose it. This includes 72% of seniors, 68% of women and 61% of those aged 35 to 54. Opposition crosses every region of the country: 71% in Manitoba and Saskatchewan; 64% in British Columbia, Alberta and Atlantic Canada; 62% in Ontario; and 60% in Quebec. Everyone is opposed to this tax, in other words. There is no reason the House cannot deliver for them.

When the Liberals offered what they called summer gas tax relief, it was clear that what they were offering was not only insufficient, but very confusing. When I asked government members about this policy, they made no commitment to it beyond the summer, and the member for Delta also made it sound like the policy was meant to help people explore our home province and go camping.

While I did have the opportunity to see much of my beautiful province this summer, it was not cheap to do so. In fact, I know several British Columbians who cancelled road trips and hunting expeditions this summer because the cost was too much and the price of gas was too high.

Those costs will only rise as the snow starts to fall. That is why my colleagues and I were clear on the need for an extension to the gas tax relief so it could go further and for longer than just the summer until Labour Day. The bill before us today is because of those efforts, stopping what would have been a punishing tax hike at the pumps just this month.

The Liberals' rosy rhetoric has not matched what Canadians are seeing in their wallets or on their bank statements. They cannot afford higher taxes. Thanks to Conservatives keeping up the fight for affordability, Canadians will keep more money in their pockets when they are filling up at the gas station this month, but we can go further. We can improve the bill before us.

Bill C-38, as it is currently written, would suspend the fuel tax until January 31, 2027. Half the tax would return on February 1 and the full tax on April 1. Is the Liberal government predicting that Canadians will not be challenged by the costs at the grocery store, by their heating bills or by the price of the pump by April 1? Is everything going to change by then? I do not believe the Liberals have invented that kind of crystal ball, so why time-limit the relief people need? Why reimpose taxes they are currently recognizing as unnecessary?

The Liberals have filled their treasury with unnecessary taxes and fees from Canadians' pockets. They have wasted far more tax dollars than we need in order to fund health care, road repairs or national defence properly. Canadians should not have to pay more for Liberal waste.

The Minister of Finance himself said that truckers, farmers, home builders and delivery drivers benefit from fuel tax relief. Would they not benefit more if the government extended this relief to Canada next year, as we are calling for? Would they not benefit by permanently eliminating some of the government's gas taxes at the pump, as Conservatives are calling for? Of course, the only reason to allow gas taxes to go higher is that the government would choose to prioritize raising taxes instead of providing limited relief.

Removing all federal taxes on gas and diesel, including the fuel excise tax, is what we are calling for. Eliminating costly fuel taxes like the fuel standard tax permanently would help keep prices lower. The Liberal government does not need more of Canadians' gas tax dollars for wasteful boutique projects like Alto rail, which will cost Canadians $60 billion to $90 billion in its life cycle. Instead of forcing families of four in my community to spend between $8,000 and $9,000 on eastern Canadian priorities, they want to see their gas tax dollars spent on efficient local infrastructure, like a secondary route for the South Okanagan to Kelowna, which we have been calling for for years.

Conservatives support the Liberals' half measures like those in Bill C-38 if it means Canadians can get some savings, but we will be pushing for more. The legislation has the potential to provide more relief for longer, but only if we amend it. I hope all colleagues in the House can work together to do just that.

[Caroline Desrochers, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, I was very curious to hear my colleague talk about how the Conservatives have been keeping up the fight to maintain affordability for Canadians. I find that a bit ironic. If that is the case, I am wondering if my colleague could explain why they voted time and time again against all measures of affordability for Canadians, including the dental care plan, the tax break for 22 million Canadians, pharmacare and the national school food program. I could continue, but the House is only sitting until midnight.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have been pushing to make life more affordable. When we have packages of bills that come at us or policies that come at us that do not make sense, of course we are not going to accept every one. We need Canadians' lives to be more affordable. We have been pushing for lower taxes on gasoline everywhere, but in a riding like mine, where it is a seven- to eight-hour drive from end to end, one can understand why Canadians or why the people in my riding need to have gas prices go down. That is what we have been pushing for since last year.

[William Stevenson, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I was recently in your riding and saw some of the issues that you talked about—

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

I am going to interrupt the member. I know it is a late hour. One cannot use the “you” when referring to the other member. I remind the member to speak through the Chair when talking to another member.

I will invite the member to continue.

[William Stevenson, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, if we look at the timing of things, I do not know about the riding in B.C. but I know that in my riding in Yellowhead, quite often gas prices are at their absolute lowest in January. They then start rising again in the spring. Every time it hits me. That is when the prices actually get to their highest.

Do you think that the timing of their removal and then the putting of them back on is actually going to help Canadians going forward?

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

I will not be responding. Again, I remind the member to speak through the Chair, not directly to the other member.

The hon. member for Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Mr. Speaker, obviously this is a temporary fix. I do not think there is anyone in the House or anyone in Canada right now who thinks that life is going to be a lot more affordable by April, when this tax relief is due to end in the bill. We need to look at the long run here. This is going to be a tough winter. This is going to be very difficult in my riding.

In particular, as many members know, many people in my riding have suffered through the recent wildfire disasters. Our tourism has hit, unfortunately, rock bottom right now, because of the fires during our big tourist season. It is not just in my riding. Throughout Canada, we are going through a very difficult time, and we are going to need relief far beyond this April.

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am perplexed by the answer that my hon. colleague gave, two questions ago, to my colleague from Quebec, when she had said that she would always support affordability measures but not all of them. She is happy to support this one. I would like to congratulate her for supporting this piece of legislation going to committee.

When else has she supported affordability measures? I am thinking of the tax cuts for 22 million Canadians. She did not support that then. When it came to providing seniors with a dental care program, she did not support that. When it came to helping our young kids to be able to have access to good food so that they could learn in school, she did not support that either.

I think that this is the first time that she is supporting an affordability measure. I wonder if the hon. member would like to comment on why is it that this is now the first time that she is doing it, although I should not look a gift horse in the mouth. I am quite happy that she is supporting this going to second reading.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am so glad the member is looking a gift horse in the mouth so readily. The Liberals have a deficit of nearly $100 billion. It is one of the highest deficits ever. It is my children and the children of Canadians right now who are going to suffer when they try to pay back that deficit.

[Caroline Desrochers, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, we are here today to talk about Bill C-38.

Everyone knows that we have been experiencing tumultuous times for over a year now. During the 2025 election, we made a firm commitment to be there to help Canadians, and that is what we have been doing since our new government took office. We have introduced measures to improve affordability for Canadians. We are also laying the foundation for a more long-term economic vision to build a stronger and more resilient economy, while addressing all of the challenges posed by the unfair trade war. We have introduced programs to help workers and businesses weather the storm. Obviously, what we are focused on this evening, particularly in our debates, is how to support families and make life more affordable. Since we very first took office, we have truly stayed the course. We are doing what we said we would do and we are laying the foundation for a stronger, more solid economy in the future.

We have already implemented many affordability measures. Earlier, it was interesting to hear my colleague opposite talk about the current military conflict and the impact that it is having on gas prices. If I recall correctly, last spring, when we began talking about the potential effects of this military conflict, many of the members opposite were laughing and saying that we were making something out of nothing. Today, it is very clear. Every time Canadians go to the pumps, they see just how much of an impact conflicts and the geopolitical situation around the world can have on us.

What we are proposing today are in fact measures to extend the suspension of the excise tax that we announced in the spring. We announced earlier this month that we would extend the temporary suspension of the federal fuel excise tax until January 31, 2027. We will then gradually reduce it by 50% until the end of March 2027.

Like all the measures we have taken since the beginning of our new government's mandate, these measures are well thought out, gradual and rooted in reality. We live in the real world, in the real world that Canadians live in. We want to take time to review the situation and see if it will change. That is why we are taking this gradual approach. That will really help reduce the daily expenses of families and Canadians, and it will help businesses in the food, agriculture, housing, construction and delivery sectors.

With the suspension we announced in the spring, which has been extended, the federal excise tax of 10¢ a litre on gasoline and four cents a litre on diesel has been suspended. It is estimated that this will save about $5.75 per tank of gas. Assuming that many families fill up about once a week, that adds up to fairly significant savings at the end of the year. This is just one of many examples of everything we are doing to continue to help Canadians deal with the challenges of our times, including the cost of living.

We are doing all this while also laying a solid foundation for the economy, as I said earlier. We currently have the strongest growth in the G7. We just returned from an exceptional week during which people from around the world converged in Toronto because everyone is interested in what is happening in Canada, and in the message our government is sending to businesses and investors, both foreign as well as major Canadian pension funds. That is why, last week, we saw record commitments to invest $500 billion here in Canada.

Suspending the excise tax is one measure among many aimed at making life more affordable for Canadians. We have announced, implemented and extended several such measures since the beginning of our mandate.

What is clear from our actions is that our government will continue to be there for Canadians. The social programs we have put in place continue to play a central role and are truly the key to everything we do. We will not leave any Canadian behind. We know that many families are struggling to make ends meet. People do not need abstract promises. They need tangible, immediate and lasting support. That is what we have been doing since we took office, since our new government's mandate began last year in April 2025.

I will mention a few measures that we have put in place. There is the Canada groceries and essentials benefit, which helps 12 million Canadians. As we speak, those 12 million Canadians are already benefiting from a GST credit supplement that will truly provide them with additional support. This assistance will provide a family of four with up to $1,890 in the first year and then $1,400 a year in subsequent years. That is real support for groceries, bills and everyday expenses. However, that is not all that we have done. We have also eliminated the federal consumer fuel charge. That measure was made official a year ago when Bill C-4 was passed.

We have also reduced income tax for nearly 22 million Canadians. We lowered the tax rate for the first income bracket from 15% to 14%. These are tangible savings that add up. Earlier, my colleague mentioned the launch of the Canadian dental plan. When I talk to people in my riding, Trois-Rivières, I see that the cost of living is a key concern for them. It is a top priority, just like the tariff war and the economic situation. These are the issues that matter most to them. People are always talking to me about the dental plan. When I visit seniors' residences, people are always talking to me about the dental plan. It changes people's lives. It provides real support to families who are not fortunate enough to have very generous insurance plans. Being able to count on the dental plan makes a real difference.

We have also eliminated the GST for first-time buyers of homes costing less than $1 million. Of course, this is in addition to all the work we are doing to make housing more affordable, particularly through Build Canada Homes. Naturally, we are building affordable housing and social housing across the country, but it is also important to support Canadians, particularly young families, so that one day they can plan on getting on the property ladder. These are concrete measures.

We have also introduced measures to reduce the costs associated with the banking system. We know that, sometimes, when families are struggling, cheques can bounce. One thing leads to another and then another, increasing stress for people and families who are struggling to make ends meet. That is why we have set a $10 cap on the fees banks can charge customers when their accounts are overdrawn.

In closing, I will say that we are here for Canadians. We have proven it through concrete measures. Extending the fuel excise tax holiday is one of the other measures we have already taken. It is true that we are living in difficult times. It is true that Canadians everywhere are going through tough times, but on this side of the House, we will always be there to help Canadians by making life more affordable.

[William Stevenson, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I asked a question to our colleague earlier today and I will ask it again.

I am just wondering if the member opposite feels that it is better to continue to not take tax off to give relief to Canadians, versus bringing back a tax to offset the cost, which is taking from one pocket and putting it into another pocket for Canadians.

Would it not be better to just not take the tax and extend this fuel excise tax holiday forever?