Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to stand in the House today to speak on behalf of my constituents of Red Deer—Mountain View.
When we look at how this pandemic has affected countries around the world, we can take some comfort that despite the hardships endured by so many of our fellow Canadians, we did not experience the horror stories of overwhelming hospitalizations that were initially expected based on the realities of many European nations and some large U.S. cities. That being said, there are still many heart-wrenching stories, especially of seniors and those in institutionalized care who have suffered immensely.
On a personal note, I have been notified of many constituents whose last days were marked by isolation and whose loving families had to postpone or vastly limit their celebrations of life. To let their names live on in Hansard, let me name just a few neighbours: Betty Howell; Daryl “Dude” Hughes and Loretta Moran; lifelong 4-H ambassador, Bob Boulton; former teaching colleague, Ed Tessman; my niece, Roselie (Moore) Engman, who sadly had to hear of her husband Andy's death through her hospital room window a few months prior to her own passing; my wife's cousin Betty Wood; and my dear friend, Bob Clark, former legislator, teacher and sports builder, who I will specifically honour at a later date. To their memories and to the well-being of all my constituents, I humbly speak on their behalf.
More than a month ago, the Prime Minister chose to hide from yet another ethical scandal by completely shutting down Parliament. All the great work that the committees were doing to get to the bottom of the WE scandal came to an end, as did the work of all other committees, including the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, of which I was a member. We have just spent a few days debating the Liberal government's latest attempt to correct its mistakes. There is no question that because of the actions of the government, many Canadians are in need of the financial support, which the three new programs we recently debated will deliver.
I will turn my attention now to the Speech from the Throne.
What we heard in the Speech from the Throne cannot be called a plan at all. What we have heard is a lot of recycled promises and a continued failure to address the needs of my community as well as the needs of hundreds of communities across Alberta and right across Canada. What we have heard is a self-serving political agenda that will bankrupt Canadians for generations to come, with spiralling debt and no commitment or viable ideas about returning to a balanced budget.
The Liberal government's Speech from the Throne completely ignores our resource sector, our critical importing farming sector, our retail and service sector and our manufacturing sector, all of which account for millions of Canadian jobs and contribute billions of dollars to our economic growth.
In my riding of Red Deer—Mountain View, farmers and ranchers remain a linchpin of our economy, as they do in countless numbers of other communities across Canada. Across Canada, the agriculture and agri-food system normally employs more than two million people, which accounts for about 12% of total Canadian employment.
How does the Liberal government acknowledge this fact? Quite simply, it does not. The Speech from the Throne has about 7,000 words. In all, the word “agriculture” was hardly mentioned at all. In fact, the word “Alberta” is only mentioned once. Is it any wonder that the vast majority of people living in western Canada and Alberta, in particular, feel alienated by the Liberal government?
As the Liberal government builds its biased bluster from the Speech from the Throne, there is merely one line which references farmers and producers being key partners in the fight against climate change. What could this mean? We have to look elsewhere to find the answers to that question. What it apparently means is the Liberal government's additional crippling taxes. What we will find from the Liberal government is a proposal to further cripple the sector as well as businesses across Canada by imposing another tax on top of the Liberal government's ill-conceived carbon tax. The new tax that will be hitting Canadians is the clean fuel standard.
The last thing Canadian farmers and ranchers need is yet another tax that will increase their costs. We have already seen the devastating effects of the Liberal government's first carbon tax on farm incomes. The truth is that Canada's farmers, ranchers and processors have for years demonstrated an ability to deliver meaningful reductions in emissions and safeguards for the environment through adoption of new technologies, education and innovative management practices, but the government has ignored these efforts. It ignores the science and the facts in favour of pursuing an agenda to further its own political ambition at the expense of hard-working Canadians.
The Conservatives know that climate change needs to be addressed, but increasing taxes is no solution. The Liberal government's Speech from the Throne is silent on a number of other important topics as well. There is no mention of the important role the energy sector is playing to help reduce carbon emissions. In fact, there is no mention of the words “oil” and “gas” anywhere in the Liberal government's Speech from the Throne. This is despite the fact that oil and gas companies are normally responsible for more than 10% of Canada's GDP and are normally the largest private investors in the Canadian economy and the largest investors in Canadian clean technology to produce the most valuable export.
I realize my time is getting short, so in closing I would like to note, as many economists and senior financial experts have also noted, that the Liberal government has completely abandoned its fiscal anchors and Canada's economic ship is adrift. In fact, the Liberal government's sky-high taxes, wasteful spending and massive deficits put Canada in an increasingly weak position before the pandemic had arrived. It is no wonder that friends and allies who are watching the Liberal government perform are wondering what happened to this once responsible and respected nation.
The truth is that Canada did not reach our current level of borrowing due solely to COVID-19 and the recession; it is a spending problem. If we are going to get Canada back on its feet, we need to put the Liberal health crisis opportunism aside, eliminate the barriers to our wealth-building oil and gas industries, eliminate uncompetitive programs that make agriculture and manufacturing difficult and unleash the power of true innovation in all sectors of our economy, not just the chosen few.
The Conservatives know that creating the groundwork for a solid recovery will make caring for Canadians now and in the future something we can all be proud of.
