Corey Hogan

Mr. Speaker, we hear the same again and again, but what we will not hear when we talk to actual Albertans is this kind of doom and gloom, because there has never been a better time to be an Albertan in Canada. We are seeing investments at record levels. We are seeing oil production at record levels, and we are seeing satisfaction with the federal government and our leader at record levels.

Madam Speaker, it seems we are in violent agreement in this House about the need to extend this excise tax, so I would like to use the member's speech as a launching-off point for a related conversation about affordability. He brought up the crack spread. Refining capacity globally is, of course, under severe stress. The Strait of Hormuz could open tomorrow, and I suspect because of refining challenges, that crack spread would grow, even, and so we must either increase refined supply or reduce demand to meaningfully address this in the long term. Obviously, more refined capacity will take time. I was wondering if the member opposite had views or proposals on policies that could either increase supply or reduce demand for refined products.

Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague that energy consumption is changing globally. Perhaps I do not see it happening as rapidly as he hopes, but I agree that the world is in the process of electrifying and greening, and cost curves are clear for renewables and storage. However, that does not provide relief today to Canadians affected by price spikes driven from global uncertainty or Canadians who own combustion engine vehicles. It seems to me that postponing the excise tax is a practical and prudent response in the short term. I would ask my colleague if he sees a place for short-term affordability measures, such as the suspension of the excise tax.

Mr. Speaker, recently I came back from a G20 meeting held by the world's largest crude oil producer, the United States, where there is a combined excise tax in Texas of 38¢ a gallon. Countries everywhere are struggling with the global effects of this war. They are exploring different ways to do this. Most have not eliminated excise taxes or even reduced them. The only two I am aware of in addition to Canada are Norway, which brought its tax back at the end of summer, on August 31, and Germany, which has reduced its tax until December. I am wondering if you consider those lessons and you think about them and the implication of these policies. When you look further abroad, are there other affordability policies you think we can learn from or that Canada should consider?

Mr. Speaker, I appreciated my colleague's comments, but I disagree with a great deal of them. Fundamentally, they are rooted in a story of Canada that is not remotely accurate. Our deficits and debts are among the best in the G7. There is so much work to do, but so much work has already occurred. Rents are down, housing prices are down and we are pushing forward on the affordability agenda with the decision we will hopefully be making at the end of this debate. I would like to talk about farmers. The member mentioned farmers, and I think it is very important that we do so. So much of what we talk about did not impact farmers, at least not the way that it did citizens in cities. They had purple gas. They were not paying the excise taxes at 13¢ provincially. It was four cents in my home province. It was four cents federally. Farming activity is not subject to the industrial carbon tax. Of course, as a business, a farm is not really paying GST in that sense. That is an input credit. Diesel is an expensive input right now, and I want to hear the member's thoughts on what we can do to support farmers in that sense.

Mr. Speaker, we know that youth unemployment is uneven across the country. There will be 6,600 new youth jobs in Alberta, by the way, this year. Let us talk about the top line here. We have the second-fastest growth in the G7, the best fiscal position in the G7, 20 new trade and security deals, non-U.S. exports up 40%, highest foreign direct investment in the G7 and that is twice that of the next country, created more jobs than the U.S. last year, wages are growing, inflation is slowing, investments in affordable gas and affordable food, affordable child care and affordable dental care. There is much more to do, but it would be great if the opposition would get serious and join us.

Mr. Speaker, we are making historic investments in young people. My colleagues today have already mentioned a number of those major projects. I am sure we will get to hear that question and get expansions of that question many more times today. Between November and April, we have reduced our deficit by $11 billion, strengthening what was already the best fiscal position in the G7. I would ask the opposition this: In 2026, right now, with the wars and the trade wars and the crisis today dragging on the economy, is this the time for austerity budgets, slashing social programs and slashing affordability supports, as you seem to be suggesting? We are—

Mr. Speaker, all agreements are considered through the lens of Canadian interests, and all agreements are considered in the context of our other agreements. As has already been mentioned, Mercosur is an enormous market. Since the last election, the government has reached 20 new trade and security agreements. These agreements open markets for farmers and ranchers in places like China and Indonesia, two countries, by the way, that are 20% of the world population and 20% of the world GDP. Since the start of 2025, non-U.S. exports have climbed 40%. We are building a strong Canada for all: for our ranchers, for our farmers and for all Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, the more precise they try to sound, the more Canadians should be deeply suspicious of their claims, because they zoom in when the world view does not actually reflect anything they are talking about here. Let us talk about the facts: 20 trade and security deals have made a 40% increase in non-U.S. trade; wages are growing faster than inflation; we created more jobs than the U.S. last year; house prices are down; rents are down; overall inflation has been within bounds for months and months; the MOU with Alberta has created durable climate action, new energy production and record production in Alberta; and we do all that with the strongest fiscal position in the G7. Welcome back to reality.

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to run through the list again. I am not sure they would be so happy to hear it. However, let us talk about this. In a time when we have global strife, wars in Iran and Ukraine and trade wars with the United States, Canada is standing at the top of the pack. We are number two in economic growth in the G7. We have the strongest fiscal position in the G7. We are investing in families and communities. There is so much that we need to do, and we are just getting started. We welcome the members opposite to get on board with us all.

Mr. Speaker, $4 billion in Cold Lake will be a nice start in helping develop the kind of overall community benefits that we are talking about. I have to say we have heard a lot of the same questions from across the way. We get the point. I think they like to talk about the fact that there are prices and deficits. Let us talk about the reality that we face right now. Let us just take a little look here. What is our fiscal position in the G7? It is the best. What are we looking at in terms of the investments we are making? We are looking at affordability, groceries and essentials, pausing the gas excise tax and reducing CPP contributions. If the Conservatives want to tell us what they want to cut—

Mr. Speaker, I would love a direct question. Are we talking deficit spending, such as the school lunch program? Are we talking deficit spending, such as the groceries and essentials benefit? Are we talking deficit spending, such as the gas excise tax? I would love to know what deficit spending the Conservatives are worried about, because on this side, we are focused on affordability. We are going to make sure we are there for Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, I almost do not know what to say. Calgarians certainly know the difference between credit card purchases and investments, such as investments in themselves. That is what we are doing with the groceries and essentials benefit. That is what we are doing with the gas tax. l will tell members something else. Albertans are very excited and Calgarians are very excited because of the MOU with Alberta, which is finding our path forward to new energy infrastructure and durable climate action. We are seeing record production. We would think that would be something the Conservatives would be excited about.

Mr. Speaker, Albertans know, of course, like all Canadians do, that we are in very uncertain times globally. The world is in a tumultuous place, but fortunately Canada enters this with the strongest debt situation in the G7. That is a fantastic place to be in when we are in difficult times. Now we are spending to make sure we are protecting Canadians from these dangerous headwinds. I would ask my colleague this: What are the cuts she would propose that would allow us to meet her objective of reducing what is already the lowest net debt and one of the lowest deficits in the G7?

Mr. Speaker, we will always stand with mill towns. The combined duties and tariffs are scheduled to go down to 35%, based on the updates that came out the last couple of weeks, so there is a small correction there, but all still too painful and all still unjustified with the United States. That is why we are working to both control the issues we can control and engage with the Americans on this issue. We have given $2.5 billion of supports to the forestry sector. We are going to be taking receipt of the forestry transformation task force's report imminently, and it has many great ideas. We will be there for workers, and I welcome the member to join us and work with us on that.

Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues across the way have heard countless times, we will continue to make sure we get the best deal, not just any deal. Let us talk about the last year. Wages have grown faster than inflation every month that the Prime Minister has been Prime Minister. FDI, foreign direct investment, is the highest in 18 years, double that of the next nation in the G7. We have record oil production, and non-U.S. trade is way up. Last year we created more jobs than the United States did. Trade wars are brutal, but we are going to win this trade war. We want the member's help doing it.

Mr. Speaker, there are a few things that I think we need to level set as I begin my response here. The member talks about crippling the energy industry. The member talks about development for the last 10 years being deficient. However, I want to note that oil and gas production in Canada increased 34% over the last 10 years. If I compare that globally, global oil and gas production increased 6% over the same time frame. Impressively, Canada managed to do this while reducing our emissions profile, not per capita and not per barrel, but overall, by 6%, showing that there are ways we can both grow our energy sector and meet our commitments to the planet, which I think is a wonderful thing. The member brought up some specific questions and commentary about the Major Projects Office, which I would like to address here. First and foremost, there was a bit of a drive-by about a pipeline to the west coast that the Government of Canada has entered an MOU with the Government of Alberta to create. The Premier of Alberta, when that MOU was signed, said that they would bring forward a project in June of this year. That is still on track. There will be a project that is brought forward. I am most certain of that, and the agreement remains firm and stands. Talking about the timelines set out in that agreement, for one of them, we were a month ahead of schedule. That was on the Impact Assessment Act and on having a single review, which will improve the ability of all projects to move forward. As well, we also reached an agreement on methane a week ahead of schedule, and while we are a couple of weeks behind schedule on the carbon pricing, the details were all agreed to are in the MOU. We are just working out the technical components underneath at this point. It is a very exciting time for the oil and gas sector. In fact, we are hitting record production again this year, and that record production, it is planned, will grow even further from there. On the Major Projects Office's other stream of work, I think it is important to note that, while the Major Projects Office is responsible for taking these referrals and moving forward with them, it is not going to then go out into the public and explain every conversation that is occurring. On every single one of those files, there was something that was needed to get it to a point of reality. That is why they were put to the Major Projects Office. Sometimes it was assistance with finding private investments, and sometimes it was regulations, but in all cases, the Major Projects Office is now using those powers and is reviewing the situation to bring forward the ability to get those projects to move forward. It has been a very positive experience for the companies that have been involved in it, and that is important to note. The last thing I will note about the Major Projects Office is that the Prime Minister also charged it with making sure we can bring overall regulatory improvements into the system. The office has been working on that as well, and it is bringing those things forward to the government for consideration, because we want to make sure that we are building not only in a responsible way, but also in a way that reflects this serious moment we are at, where we need to ensure that Canada can stand on its own two feet in a very challenging global environment. There are many good signs that I am happy to talk about in my rejoinder. I will leave my comments there at this moment.

Mr. Speaker, it is always interesting to see what members on both sides take credit for, or not, in the chronology going back 10 years. Those are some long coattails, I would suggest to the member opposite. The reality is that this is the only government that managed to get a pipe to tidewater. That pipe is now being expanded. That is a major project going on, but let us talk about the Major Projects Office and the nature of those projects. On the first list of major projects activity, which was announced back in September, obviously some of the furthest along were going to be the ones that are best positioned to move forward, but there was also a release of transformational strategies that was provided concurrently. It includes things such as Wind West, the Port of Churchill, and carbon capture and utilization. There are many projects that are brand new and of much excitement for this country and for Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

Mr. Speaker, the opposition is picking up the same lines like a soon-to-be-gifted kettlebell, but these repetitions will not get them the gains they seek, because they require Canadians to forget everything before yesterday. We are in a trade war, and in that trade war we are performing very well. We are getting more jobs than the United States. We have foreign direct investment at the highest level in 18 years. Alberta's unemployment decreased by 0.4 points this year. There is much to celebrate, because we have a strong focus on building the economy and we are seeing results.

Mr. Speaker, oil and gas production in Canada is at record highs, up 34% in the last 10 years. We have managed to do that while reducing emissions in our country by 6%. We have found a way to sustainably grow and meet the growing needs of the world, including diversifying needs from allies that are increasingly requiring lower carbon emissions. We are building strong. We have approved Ksi Lisims, the Taylor to Gordondale pipeline, NexGen's and Denison's uranium mines. TMX optimization is under way. There are LNG projects, from Cedar to Woodfibre, Tilbury and LNG Canada phase two. They are happening. We are building strong, and we welcome you to join us in that building.