Bob Zimmer

Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to speak today about diesel prices. It all relates to food costs and high food costs, especially in northern Canada. I will go back to a promise made by the Prime Minister during the last election. It is funny how people expect us to just forget all those promises the Prime Minister made. That was why he was elected. It was based on those promises. The promise I am going to talk about is the one he made to northern Canadians, that he would be measured by prices at the grocery store. Why is food so expensive in the north? I think we all know. The reason is two words: transportation costs. Those already high transportation costs just went higher with higher diesel prices, as we all know. It is a reason our leader brought forward the emergency fuel relief plan. The plan would provide for emergency prepermitting and tax relief for the construction of diesel infrastructure such as refineries, pipelines, rail and storage. It would eliminate all taxes on diesel consumption until at least Canada Day. It would permanently eliminate taxes on diesel production and would call on the government to set the goal of boosting Canadian diesel production to one million barrels per day, allowing every Canadian business and consumer access to Canadian diesel. Again, the Prime Minister promised that he would be measured by prices at the grocery store. I see this every day. I was just responding to a social media post. Prices have always been high in the north. That is true. They have been high but they are even higher, when the Prime Minister promised, just 18 months ago, that he was going to bring those prices down. The promise he made to Canadians did not stop at the northern borders, as far as I am concerned and as far as northerners are concerned. What are Canadians experiencing at the grocery store because of increased fuel costs? I have an article from Bloomberg. It is from September 29 of this year. It reads, “Diesel prices surge to historic highs, hitting consumers harder than ever.... Experts say elevated fuel costs mean higher price tags on items ranging from food and clothing to construction materials for months to come, with diesel demand poised to go up further as winter approaches.” The article continues, “The price of a round-trip haul by a semi truck between Montreal and Toronto would have cost roughly $850 on Jan. 1. Now the total would amount to $1,400, said Mike Millian, president of the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada.... 'It’s really dramatic. It’s tough to absorb.'” Imagine that trip, which is only around 1,000 kilometres. Edmonton is the base from which most of the food in the north comes; it heads north from that point. Imagine the cost increase for food when the round trip is from Edmonton to Tuktoyaktuk, and that trip is 7,000 kilometres. We can only imagine what the math is, seven times as much as that trip from Montreal to Toronto. I will go back to the article. It reads, “Diesel powers industries ranging from agriculture to mining and manufacturing, and the bigger expenses they face are likely to show up as higher sticker prices on consumer items.” It continues, “'It hurts everybody. There’s not anybody this doesn’t affect,' said Millian.” I will go on: “The shippers and retailers who face those transport surcharges often find they have little choice but to raise prices for shoppers. 'If you’re an independent grocer and you’re on an overall margin of 2% and you’re getting fuel surcharges from your suppliers, you’re in a tough spot,' said Gary Sands, a senior vice-president at the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers, which represents about 6,900 stores. 'It becomes very difficult to not pass on those fuel surcharges.'” That is the reality we are facing. That is why, again, our leader came forward with the emergency plan that we are putting forward, which would reduce the cost of diesel to at least attempt to bring those costs down or keep those costs lower than what they are right now. I have another article. This one is from CBC: “The price of diesel is skyrocketing. Here's why Canadians may soon feel it at the grocery store”. This is the other thing that we have not really talked about. We have talked about the increase in prices, but why? There is not enough supply. “The problem is that diesel is in extraordinarily short supply, experts say”. The article continues, “'This is going to be somewhat of a secret killer of the North American economy, if this is not addressed in the next few months,' Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis firm Gas Buddy, told CBC News.” “Diesel prices historically rise even more in the winter, according to energy analyst Dan McTeague, meaning 'we could be looking at a very, very expensive winter ahead, not just for truck, for transport industry, airlines, trains and whatnot, but also for consumers.'” “It's a concern for Canadians as any time the price of diesel goes up, it impacts every part of the food supply chain: shipping, storing and producing, according to Evan Fraser at the University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute.” Some would say this whole situation in Iran is out of the Prime Minister 's control, but he has things he can do in Canada right now to limit those impacts to consumers and to transporters that transport our food to these remote areas that eventually impact consumers. He can effect that change. Even though he cannot affect what is going on in Iran, per se, he can still help lower those diesel prices in Canada today by having the simple ability to vote for our plan to lower taxes on diesel and to increase the supply of diesel in Canada. Again, I would just call on the Prime Minister to do the right thing. I did not get the chance to ask Liberals across the way if they are going to support our plan and our emergency fuel relief plan, but they have a choice: They can support it and dramatically lower the impacts of those higher diesel prices on food costs in Canada. I read about the prices and the food costs in northern Canada. I have made the trip there for several years now and watched those food prices sort of grow over the last three years. The Prime Minister promised those northerners when he looked at the camera and said they would be measured by prices at the grocery store and also by energy prices of home heating. That is how he was going to be measured. He made that promise that it would be okay if he was elected as the Prime Minister. Right now we are not seeing that. We are not seeing lower prices. We are not seeing lower prices even in my hometown of Fort St. John. Just a dozen eggs is about eight dollars and a loaf of bread is about seven dollars, depending on the type of bread a person buys. Milk is getting a lot more expensive. An example I talked about yesterday was that a jug of milk in Inuvik this summer was $18. Imagine a family living in Inuvik and having to buy a jug of milk for their family. With two kids at home a family would go through about two jugs of milk a week. That is about what we used to go through. Even the cost of milk is exorbitant, all because of those higher transportation costs. I started by asking why food is so expensive in the north. I have a two-word answer: transportation costs. The Prime Minister, though, has a choice today. He can vote for our motion to lower diesel prices. In effect, lower heating costs, transportation costs and food costs all the way down the line would benefit Canadian consumers. He can vote for our motion or he can vote against it and cause northern food prices to go even higher. It is his choice.

Mr. Speaker, I think that is a little bit vague. We have already seen sort of a muted response to these high diesel prices from the Liberals. Our plan is just a lot more thorough and a lot more effective: emergency prepermitting and tax relief would eliminate all taxes on diesel consumption until at least Canada Day, permanently eliminate taxes on diesel production and then even boost what we have as a reserve to one million barrels per day. Our plan would be a much more effective response to not only this diesel crisis, but similar crises in the future.

Mr. Speaker, that question was a bit out of touch if he is saying that what we are suggesting is just going to put more money in oil and gas companies' pockets. This would land directly in consumers' pockets when they pay less at the grocery store. I would challenge that member to come with me to the Arctic any time of the year and look at food prices and the associated transportation costs. Our efforts are to bring down those transportation costs to bring down the cost of food for northerners. That is what we are about. I am not sure what he is about.

Mr. Speaker, this shows we have a government that just seems to put out fires as it goes, versus our Conservative potential and future government, what our leader has said and the potential for us to govern. We have a really good plan that would change things not just for the short term, but for the future for Canadians, which would bring down costs and bring more security for loggers and transporters of food to the north, and really for everybody. We have a plan and I trust that the Liberals will support it today.