Taxation  Mr. Speaker, the cost of fuel in British Columbia is now more than $1.60 per litre. It is the highest in North America. This problem is being caused by substantial uncertainty surrounding the future of the industry, but it is being compounded by a carbon tax. When the Prime Minister was asked in Vancouver on Monday, he lauded the price of fuel, claiming he was demonstrating leadership by having Canadians pay more.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, I think the Prime Minister does not get it either, and I will tell him why. The Prime Minister just indicated that raising the price is going to make people make better choices. Imagine my surprise when I read today that the Prime Minister has his food prepared at 24 Sussex and then driven across the street, 700 metres away, to his residence.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said that he wants to increase the carbon tax. He wants to put it on goods because he believes that Canadians need to be told to make better choices. Basically, he is running on the “no pain, no gain” platform. The reality is that we do not know how much the pain will be, or is this just a real issue of the fact that it is all pain and no gain?

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister was asked a simple question, whether Canadians can expect to pay higher fuel prices with the carbon tax. His response was a bit jarring. He said, yes, and that is what Canadians expect because that is leadership. What the Prime Minister views as leadership is literally terrifying to widows and single moms across this country.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's lead ministers simply do not understand that they are very much out of touch with the reality of what's happening and the gravity of the issue that we are speaking of. I remember the days, and a lot of us do, of being able to put just five bucks in the gas tank in order to get to my work at the Dairy Queen, and there are people like that today in my riding who experience that.

Natural Resources  Mr. Speaker, there is a crisis that has been created by the government, and it is following on the uncertainty of the Trans Mountain project. Let us take a look at what it has done to foreign investments. Since 2015, investments have decreased by $80 billion. In 2016 and 2017, they decreased a further 42% and 27%.

Natural Resources  Mr. Speaker, I thought it would never end. Let us review the actual record of the government when it comes to its inability to get things done: the $36-billion investment in the Pacific NorthWest LNG project, cancelled; the $7.9-billion northern gateway project, cancelled; the $50-billion energy east and eastern mainline projects, both cancelled.

Natural Resources  Mr. Speaker, words without action are simply words, and the reality is that this government has a record of making great announcements but an appalling record of actually implementing the things it is announcing. We have the third-largest oil reserves in the world, and our economy depends upon the success of this industry.

Natural Resources  Mr. Speaker, the minister speaks of one province, but this is not a crisis that is caused by one province or another; it is a crisis that is caused simply by the lack of leadership and the inability of the government to actually get the job done. We have seen this before, and as long as the government fails to step up, we are going to see it again.

Natural Resources  Mr. Speaker, the approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline was announced with a promise of a $7.4 billion investment in our economy and the creation of 37,000 Canadian jobs. It was great news for an industry that was already suffering from the loss of previously announced projects, such as energy east.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, it is not about whether or not businesses are invited along. It is about whether or not the public can have the trust in the integrity of the members of Parliament inviting these businesses along Where the member has gone woefully wrong, and I must assume he offered the invitation since the Prime Minister has not said anything different, is that he is a lawyer.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, in 2015, after the member of Parliament for Brampton East was elected, he started to accept contracts from various people within his constituency. Ironically, the president and his boss was invited along on this disastrous trip to India which the Prime Minister and his entourage undertook.

Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, the government has a troubling history that every time its members get pushed on questions that show the fact that they do not have a good answer, they resort to name calling. Yesterday at the finance committee I was questioning the minister with respect to his own record on promoting women in senior positions.

Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, there is no attack in saying the facts. One, the minister never once sought to ensure he had proper representation on his private sector board. Two, the finance department is woefully lacking women in senior positions by 4:11. Three, in his own office there is only one woman who is a member of his senior staff.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, forgive me for being stunningly bewildered, but the minister has said today that there is no need for the national security adviser to testify before a committee for the reason that the media has reported everything the national security adviser told the reporters. This just in: a very esteemed senior individual journalist, David Akin, has just said, “I had one of those briefings from the 'senior government official'.