Don Davies

[Business of Supply, May 26th, 2026]

Mr. Chair, does the minister expect that introducing a profit element will lead to lower airport fees in Canada?

[Business of Supply, May 26th, 2026]

Mr. Chair, does the minister expect that service quality will be improved by privatizing Canada's airports?

[Business of Supply, May 26th, 2026]

Mr. Chair, Liberals are planning to sell off Canada's ports and airports. When the U.K. privatized Heathrow, costs skyrocketed and service declined. Today, the governments of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and China control major stakes in that airport.

Has the government conducted a full national security review of the risks posed by foreign and state-linked entities acquiring ownership of Canada's strategic infrastructure?

[Business of Supply, May 26th, 2026]

Mr. Chair, oil companies are set to make some $90 billion in profits this year as a result of the attack on Iran.

Why will the government not tax those excess profits?

[Business of Supply, May 26th, 2026]

Mr. Chair, the government claimed that suspending the gas tax would save Canadians 10¢ a litre. When the suspension came into effect, the national average gas price was $1.69 a litre. Today, it is $1.83 a litre, and $2 a litre in Vancouver.

Does the minister believe that oil companies are pocketing at least some portion of the tax cut?

[Business of Supply, May 26th, 2026]

Mr. Chair, federal civil servants working partly from home are being forced to return full-time to an office, even where there is no place to put them. There is no compelling reason to work from an office. It will negatively affect their quality of life and productivity, and it will cost the government more money.

Why are Liberals pursuing a policy that is so irrational?

[Business of Supply, May 26th, 2026]

Mr. Chair, I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands.

Federal civil servants working partly from home are being—

[Business of Supply, May 26th, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with my hon. colleague that there will be corporate taxes generated on the additional corporate profits that are made. However, when we are talking about a windfall like this, an extra $60 billion of unanticipated revenue, a case can be made that an excess profits tax is appropriate, especially when that profit was not made because of extra investment by the oil and gas industry but because of geopolitical instability that has caused a spike in world prices.

What we do agree on is that we need to give consumers relief in this country.

[Business of Supply, May 26th, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, New Democrats said at the time that the Liberal government had proposed this measure without any kind of cap or measure to prevent oil companies from taking a portion of that 10¢ and just hiking their price. The Liberals did nothing. Of course it had a predictable unfortunate result.

New Democrats have been calling for real measures that would actually help Canadians at the pump. Bringing in a cap on prices at the pump in a time of crisis would actually help consumers. Bringing in a windfall profits tax on oil and gas companies, which are making $90 billion this year and are not suffering, and using that money to help Canadians by lowering their cost of living in a variety of ways would help.

While I am at it, I will just conclude by saying to my hon. colleague, who talked about previous governments, that he would do well to study the government of C.D. Howe, a Liberal government during World War II that did bring in measures to stop corporations from making obscene profits by profiting off war and to protect consumers. He should take a look and read—

[Business of Supply, May 26th, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, I am so glad my friend gave me a chance to talk about the fantastic job that Premier Wab Kinew is doing in Manitoba. I was in Manitoba just last week, in the provincial legislature. I was attending the Canadian Labour Congress convention. The types of policies and measures that the Kinew government is bringing in, as a New Democrat government in Manitoba, would be very instructive for this government to follow, if it could. I am very proud of that government.

I noticed my friend did not address the main thrust of my argument, which is that the Liberals brought in a measure on April 20 that they said would lower gas prices for Canadians. They took 10¢ off the price of a litre of gas in this country, telling Canadians that they would pay less at the pump. It was $1.69 a litre on April 20, and it is $1.81 today. It did not work. That is math, and my honourable colleague would do well to focus on the math.

The New Democrats are calling for measures that will actually help consumers, not hurt them.