The leader of the provincial Liberal Party is slamming NDP Premier John Horgan for rising prices at the gas pumps, but Horgan says he’s slamming the wrong guy.
“Gas prices went up nine cents overnight, that’s not a tax question, that’s a gouging question,” Horgan said Wednesday. “I’ve raised this with the federal government, we’ve certainly talked about it inside government here. When you see that type of an increase in the price of a litre of gasoline, it’s not about taxation. I know there are those that would like to make that the argument but clearly there’s not a connection between the commodity price of a barrel of oil and the price at the pumps.
Jump in gasoline prices is company profit taking says @jjhorgan #bcpoli #bcleg pic.twitter.com/Ueav2W2Ikk
— Tom Fletcher (@tomfletcherbc) July 4, 2018
“That tells me,” Horgan said, “we have two issues. We have a matter of supply, which we’ve talked about, the ability to refine more product rather than shipping raw materials offshore — that would help the consumers in Canada, that would be my preference, but we certainly need to look at why prices can go up nine cents overnight. That’s not taxation — that’s profits for companies.”
Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson said Wednesday that Horgan “should be reducing costs for drivers” but instead “is making British Columbians pay more.
“This tax grab is a slap in the face from John Horgan,” Wilkinson charged. “While British Columbians are struggling to get ahead, John Horgan hiked another tax without even having the courtesy to tell British Columbians about it. People deserve some help to make life a little more affordable and government should lower the gas tax and give folks a break from the pain at the pump.”
