After almost 4 weeks of soaring gas prices the B.C. government is expected to announce some sort of relief to drivers.
In a interview with Global News about the unaffordable gas prices according to John Horgan his government is taking time to “assess” the gas price situation before unveiling the plan.
“We are going to present a plan. We are going through the process now so we don’t make it worse, quite frankly,” Horgan said.
“We don’t want to give false hope until we have gone through the process. It is important to be consistent. We have managed the economy that way. Saying something off the cuff, because it is popular is not the way to go.”
“I do think people are amending their behaviour. They are looking at carpooling. Looking to fit an extra kid in the car for soccer practice. That is what communities do in a crisis.”
Insisting living in poverty together being codependent on other people with less freedom is the thing to do as a society.
“We have tools. Some people say it is the taxes. It is not the taxes,” Horgan said.
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem wrote to members of the House of Commons the current gas taxes has contributed about half a percentage point to the inflation rate “According to the Bank’s calculations, if the charge were to be removed from the three main fuel components of the consumer price index (gasoline, natural gas and fuel oil) it would reduce the inflation rate by 0.4 percentage points.
The B.C. Utilities Commission is currently doing a review of gas prices, looking at a period between February 2021 and February 2022.
Horgan said if there is evidence of gouging, there will be consequences for any companies involved.
“The prices are not coming down at the same rate as the price of a barrel of oil. We want to make sure there is not gouging there,” Horgan said.
“That is cold comfort to those who say I have to put gas in my tank this weekend. We are looking at ways of putting money back in people’s pockets.”
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) suggests that even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which is true and known for many years, however nothing has been done except paying lip service to British Columbians.
The carbon tax was introduced in B.C. to help reduce consumption of fossil fuel. According to Stats Canada reports that between 2007 and 2018 fuel consumption of Gasoline in British Columbia has increased by 5.2% while Canada as a whole 9.8%
The B.C. government is trying to pin all the blame on the oil and gas industries. According to the Terrace Standard after the last gas price inquiry John Horgan acknowledged it’s a supply and storage issue. The Trans Mountain Pipeline alone is not enough to get product to the global market and supply B.C. at the same time.
“It’s not just about supply, although we need more gasoline,” Horgan said. “We need less diluted bitumen. That won’t move your automobile, but gasoline will, and we only have the one refinery in Burnaby.”
