Amarjeet Gill

Mr. Speaker, Conservatives have said for years that the government needs to change its direction to help Canadians. We strongly suggest that it accepts the Conservative economic action plan. After more than a decade of Liberal promises, major projects still face lengthy approvals. Would Bill C-39 actually get projects built faster, or would it create another layer of federal bureaucracy?

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to speak, on behalf of the great people of Brampton West, to Bill C-38, an act to amend the Excise Tax Act, also known as the Canadian fuel affordability act, and the impact of high prices on Canadian businesses and families. After visiting and talking to the residents of Brampton West this summer, I can say that this is an incredibly important issue affecting Canadians. For months, Conservatives have delivered a simple message: Stop raising costs, cut taxes, lower the cost of fuel and let Canadians keep more of the money they earn. Now, after months of Conservative pressure, the government would be extending the fuel tax relief. That is good news for Canadians, but let us be clear. This would not be permanent tax relief. It would be a temporary extension. The tax is still scheduled to come back, and Canadians deserve better than a temporary break from high prices. Conservatives have been fighting for lower fuel taxes because we understand something the government has been slow to recognize: Fuel taxes do not stop at the gas pump. They travel through the entire economy. When it costs more for fuel, it costs more to produce our food, build our homes and supply our businesses, and eventually we all end up paying higher prices. The government itself now acknowledges that the fuel tax relief benefits truckers. It also benefits agriculture, construction and housing. Conservatives agree. In fact, we have been making the argument for years. That is why we fought against higher fuel prices. That is why we demanded relief. That is why the government should go further. If lower fuel taxes help Canadians today, why bring those back tomorrow? That is the question the government needs to answer. Under the current plan, the regular federal excise tax is 10¢ per litre on gasoline and four cents per litre on diesel. The suspension would be extended through January. Then the tax would come back again at half the regular rate in February and March, and the full rate is scheduled to return in April 2027. Let us think about that. Canadians would get relief today, but the government has scheduled the tax to come back. That is not a long-term affordability plan. Conservatives believe that Canadians need long-lasting relief because the affordability crisis will not disappear in February. The grocery bills and mortgage payments will not disappear in February. The family that needs its vehicle to get to work will need gasoline in February and beyond. Why should the tax break disappear? I represent the wonderful riding of Brampton West. This issue is very real for the people I represent. Brampton is a working city. It is a trucking, manufacturing and small business city. Every morning, people get up early, get into their car or truck and go to work. They are not driving because it is a luxury. They are driving because they have a business to run, a construction site to reach or children to take to school. These Canadians work hard. Increasingly, they feel like the government is taking more, while their paycheques buy less. They see it at the grocery store, in their housing costs and every time they fill their tank. That is why Conservatives have been demanding affordability measures that put money in people's pockets. Canadians do not need more bureaucracy or another complicated program. Canada is competing for jobs. We are competing for investments. We are competing for manufacturing. Communities such as Brampton know what happens when those jobs leave. Recently, Brampton has experienced the devastating uncertainty surrounding the Stellantis assembly plant. Thousands of workers and their families have been affected. Those workers do not need more speeches about competitiveness. They need Canada to become competitive, affordable, and a land of opportunity. That means lowering the cost of doing business, and it means encouraging businesses to hire here. Conservatives believe Canada should compete by making our economy stronger with lower taxes, faster approvals, more investments, more productions and more Canadian jobs. We should make Canada the best place in the world to invest, build and hire, because every investment represents something more important than a government announcement. It represents a paycheque. It represents a worker. It represents a family. The government estimates that extending the fuel tax suspension would provide billions of dollars in additional relief. That is good, but it raises another question: If keeping that money in the economy helps Canadians now, why should the government be in such a hurry to take it back? Conservatives believe that the money Canadians earn belongs to Canadians. The government must justify taking it. Families know where their money is needed. Maybe it is a mortgage, groceries, the hydro bill, hockey registration or keeping a small business alive. Canadians do not need government telling them how to spend every additional dollar. Conservatives also understand who ultimately carries the burden when government raises the costs. It is the trucker leaving Brampton before sunrise, the contractor trying to keep a project on budget, the small business owners wondering whether there will be enough left at the end of the month, and the parents sitting at their kitchen table deciding which bills get paid first. Government policy should make their life easier, not harder. Conservatives will support meaningful tax relief. We will support measures that make life more affordable. However, we will also continue pushing the government to go further, because one temporary tax measure cannot undo years of rising costs. Canada needs an economic plan based on growth that rewards work, investment and entrepreneurship. We need to build homes, infrastructure and energy projects that create jobs, and we need to bring down the cost of doing business. That is how Canada becomes competitive, that is how wages grow, that is how opportunities are created and that is how we give young Canadians the hope that working hard will get them ahead. Bill C-38 presents the government with an opportunity. It can acknowledge what Conservatives have been saying: Canadians are overtaxed, families need relief, businesses need lower taxes and our economy needs to become more competitive. Therefore, extend the relief, make affordability the priority, keep fuel prices down, lower taxes on work and investment, get Canadian projects built, bring investment back to Canada, protect Canadian manufacturing and create powerful paycheques for Canadian workers. Conservatives believe in the Canadian worker. We believe in our farmers, our truckers, our tradespeople and our entrepreneurs. We believe that Canadians should be rewarded for working hard, so our message with respect to Bill C-38 is simple: Any relief is welcome, but temporary relief is not enough. Keep taxes down, bring costs down, make Canada competitive, protect Canadians' jobs and let Canadians keep more of what they earn, because Canadians do not need another band-aid solution. They need everlasting affordability. They need good jobs, better opportunity and an economy where hard work pays again. A government cannot run from a fundamental responsibility to protect and help citizens. Canadians deserve safety, security and affordability. That is what families in Brampton West and across Canada are asking for, and that is what Conservatives will continue fighting for.

Mr. Speaker, if the member had listened to my speech, I encouraged every measure as welcome. Every measure that helps Canadians, Canadian families, Canadian workers or Canadian business is welcome. We Conservatives believe this bill is a half measure that would not give Canadian families and businesses the long-term relief they need. Only after months of Conservative pressure is the government now extending this temporary measure. We will continue to pressure the government until it gives Canadians real long-term relief and takes all the taxes off fuel. One thing I would like to say is that we will welcome any ideas, and if they are willing to accept our ideas, they are also more than welcome to accept them to make—

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.

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.