Madam Speaker, I am back again this evening to continue calling for a windfall profits tax on the oil and gas industry. I am doing so, first of all, because life continues to become less affordable for folks in my community, and corporate profits have a lot to do with it. In fact, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives found in January 2023 that for every dollar spent on higher prices in the last two years, 47¢ was converted into corporate profits in four industries, with mining and oil and gas leading the way.
Lots of attention, in this place at least, has been placed on the carbon tax, but here are the facts. Much more responsible for the increased costs of day-to-day living is the gouging of the oil and gas industry. In fact, in 2022, when the carbon price went up 2¢ a litre, the profits of the industry went up 18¢ a litre. There are no rebates on that gouging. In 2022, the five largest oil and gas companies operating in Canada alone made more than $38 billion. That was after they repaid shareholders $29 billion in increased dividends and share repurchases.
Meanwhile, the climate crisis rages on. Canada is warming at twice the rate of the global average, and the Canadian Arctic is warming at about three times the global rate. The impacts of the climate crisis are being felt across the country with more severe and more extreme weather events, including wildfires that consumed almost 46 million acres in 2023.
The government could both address the affordability crisis and fund climate solutions by taking a step it took with banks and life insurance companies during the pandemic, and that is introducing a windfall profits tax on the oil and gas industry. It is what I proposed in Motion No. 92 over a year ago. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has already studied it. A one-time tax on 15% of profits over $1 billion would generate $4.2 billion, every dollar of which could go toward proven climate solutions that make life more affordable, such as, for example, public transit, to reduce fares and improve service at a time when the government is talking about the next public transit fund not starting until 2026. This money could get that going a whole lot faster.
It is also well supported, most importantly by Canadians. In a recent nationwide poll, 62% of Canadians supported a windfall profits tax on oil and gas. It is likely why the idea has such strong support among my colleagues in different parties, including the Bloc, the NDP and the Liberal Party. It is partly why the UN Secretary-General, as another example, has called on “all developed economies to tax the windfall profits of fossil fuel companies”, like environmental organizations across the country. As the David Suzuki Foundation said, “Momentum is building for a windfall profit tax on oil and gas companies’ excessive profits. It’s easy to see why: the fossil fuel industry has made the affordability crisis harder for people while making out like bandit.” Canadians for Tax Fairness has said, “A windfall profits tax is one way to make sure that O&G companies...aren't capitalizing on our affordability crisis.” Other countries have done it, like the U.K. and those in the EU. In fact, the Liberal government planned to put it in last year's budget, but pulled it at the last minute after intense lobbying from the industry.
It is clear from the polls that Canadians want to see more from the government on affordability and the climate crisis. Why not introduce a windfall profits tax and demonstrate that it has the big ideas necessary to meet the moment we are in?
