There are some things which are hard to understand and one of them is gas prices at the pump.
Here in Sooke the price of a litre of gasoline can change from hour to hour. One day while driving along Sooke Road one way the price of gas was $1.10/litre and coming back the other way within a very short time it was $1.22/litre.
Now we understand that the price per barrel fluctuates and the price at the pump is reflective of that — but come on, a 12 cent difference in an hour and then it goes down the next day? The price always seems to rise just before the weekend or a long weekend when people are wanting to go places. It feels like gouging and it is. We need to drive in our area as the buses do not come every 10 minutes and many of us live in more rural areas. The same with folks who live in the interior of the province. Gas companies use all manner of excuses, some are valid. The province and the feds take a portion via taxes, and you can be sure every penny counts there. Just try adding up what a penny per litre adds up to. The federal government takes 10 cents/litre in tax and the province takes a whopping 20.06 cents/litre plus five per cent for a total of 31.56 cents/litre. In the Yukon the total taxes for gasoline amount to 17 cents/litre. Huh?
If Premier Christy Clark wants to make life easier for working families, then lower the tax on gas. This would help in more ways than just the gas put into the family sedan, it would impact transport and heating fuel and delivery of goods.
It’s time we stood up to these tax guzzlers and oil companies who fleece us every chance they get. We could do something if the will was there.
