Mr. Speaker, before I begin my late show, I just want to acknowledge that I am joined this week by my daughter, Jada. I was really happy to have my 12-year-old out here with me for the week, so I just want to give a quick shout-out to her.

I was also honoured this week to be able to host the U18 Shaunavon Badgers hockey team here in Ottawa. We had a quick little tour on the floor this morning. I really enjoyed doing that. They have a game tonight at 10 o'clock against the Ottawa Sting. I believe they are a rep B level team, so I am looking forward to that game tonight.

When I got up to ask a question of the Minister of National Resources, it was with regard to the government's emissions cap. I have talked to people from the area around Shaunavon, in particular. Even those young men earlier today talked a lot about what the future of our country looked like.

When we look at policies like the emissions cap that the government is implementing, we have seen from independent analysis that it is going to be a production cap. I know the parliamentary secretary, when he stands up, is going to say that it is a cap on emissions and not a cap on production. However, the proof is in the pudding. We have seen multiple reports already by several groups saying that the emissions cap will amount to a one million barrels per day reduction in oil production, so we have already seen that there is going to be a reduction in the amount of oil that is produced in this country due to the emissions cap.

Why is that a big deal? It is a big deal because a million barrels per day would amount to a 1% hit to Canada's GDP. Coming up next Monday we are going to hear from the finance minister finally on the supplementary estimates. She has not told us what the deficit is going to be, but she did say that, because the PBO said we have room for a 1.5% swing in GDP, everything is fine and it does not matter how big the deficit is; it will be okay.

The reality is that, when we implement policies that blow a 1% hole in this already right off the top before we even get to this 1.5%, we know we are going to be operating within a very tight margin. What is going to happen to the spending power of the average Canadian after this production cap hits Canadians fully is that it will amount to $420 a month per Canadian household in disposable income that they will not have access to. They are going to lose $420 per month based on those numbers. That is important because, when we look at the forecast for the cost of food for 2025, grocery prices are going to go up on average $800 per Canadian family.

When we factor bad policy A with bad policy B and with things like the carbon tax and the Liberal fuel standards, we are seeing a continual assault on the cost of living for Canadians. When we look at the energy security of our country, we are seeing around the world right now that energy security is of utmost importance. When we see what the oil and gas sector does for Canada, the strategic advantage that we have with our natural resources, and we see policies put in place like the emissions cap that are going to cost 115,000 jobs for Canadian workers, we see the 1% hit in GDP and we see the multiple billion dollars that are going to be lost in the Canadian economy because of this singular bad policy. However, if we add that on top of the other pancaking of bad policies from the government, Canadians are going to be worse off.

How can the government seriously look Canadians in the face, Canadians who are looking to the future in their small towns, and even in our country at large, and say that this is going to be a good policy when it is going to hamper and strike down the futures of Canadians?

Jeremy Patzer

$451,125.00