BC Taxpayers Federation Calls on Premier Horgan to Axe the Gas Tax
PRINCE GEORGE – A string of oil refinery shutdowns across the Western United States is behind the record high gas prices seen in British Columbia this week. With shutdowns spread across states from Ohio to California, including BC’s primary source for imported oil in Ferndale, Washington, gas stations across Western Canada have had a hard time accessing their usual supplies of “cheap” gas to fill the tanks of British Columbians. Gasbuddy Petroleum Analyst, Patrick De Haan says while the shutdowns have caused a disruption to the supply chain, and higher prices as a result, there is hope on the horizon.
“Over the last week we’ve seen oil prices jump by $10 a barrel. In addition the west coast, areas of BC and down in the US mainland are seeing many many refinery issues that have caused supply to drop considerably, that has caused the price of gasoline to jump significantly. Prices now in much of Prince George closer to $2.00 a liter. We could see prices dropping 10 to 20 cents a litre, starting next week. That could take a couple of weeks to fully materialize, I do believe by the month of October, we’ll see prices well below what they are today, they could be 25 to 35 cents a litre lower than they are today, so long as there are no new disruptions” -Patrick De Haan, Petroleum Analyst
That means as refineries south of the border return to full production outputs, the supply chain woes plaguing BC will begin to ease, likely with incremental decreases in gas prices over the coming weeks. For the time being, Carson Binda, Director of British Columbia’s branch of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, is calling directly on Premier John Horgan, to axe the gas taxes, and offer immediate relief to Canadians he feels are being gouged at the pumps by carbon tax schemes.