By Cheryl Jahn

BC gas prices highest in Canada

Aug 4, 2023 | 2:18 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The Canadian Taxpayers Federation has issued its annual condemnation of gas taxes in the country. It shows that BC has the highest gas taxes in the country. It shows that Vancouver and Victoria topped the national rankings this year for the highest taxes per litre of gasoline. The report shows that taxes account for 78 cents per litre in Vancouver, 71 cents per litre in Victoria and, for us, we pay 64 cents per litre in other parts of the province.

“So every single year we put out the Gas Tax Honesty report and that’s what we break down,” explains Kris Sims with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation based in Alberta. “How many and how much taxes you’re getting screwed with at the pump because the government never wants to tell you. And I couldn’t help myself. I had to send you that note showing how much we’re saving here in Alberta. And it honestly isn’t to rub it in. It’s to push Premier Eby to follow Premier Daniel Smith’s lead and drop the provincial fuel taxes. So we’re calling on Premier Eby to cut taxes like a girl, have taxes like Daniel Smith has here in Alberta.”

And that’s the difference between our province and our neighbour to the east. But Alberta isn’t the only one.

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“We’ve seen Danielle Smith do it in Alberta and we saw Premier Ford do it in Ontario, we’ve seen the governments of Newfoundland and Labrador do,” says Carson Binda, the British Columbia Director for the CTF. “So governments across the country are responding to inflationary pressures to sky-high cost of living by cutting gas taxes. And David Eby needs to do the same thing, especially when British Columbia is topping the charts for gas prices or, pardon me, gas taxes across the country.”

When you add the federal carbon tax onto the long-standing BC carbon tax it is hit with a double-whammy, which equates to 17 cents extra for gasoline and 19 cents for diesel. And for rural British Columbians, that’s a significant number.

“And for folks up in Prince George, where everything is running on trucks and trains. Diesel is your lifeblood. And so that’s why you guys are paying through the nose for almost everything up there is because you have to carbon taxes in British Columbia on diesel,” says Sims. “And so the prime minister is now going to make that Canada-wide. So within the next seven years, they’re going to be paying the same sort of carbon tax that you guys there in B.C. And so this is why we’re urging all premiers to do everything they possibly can to take the sting out of Trudeau’s tax hikes.”

“Out where you are, gas taxes per fill-up amount to about 40 $41 to fill up a tank of gas. Just the tax bill alone. That’s enough money to buy a roast chicken dinner with all the fixings. And you know what? A gallon of milk. So you’ve got some milk in your cereal in the morning,” says Binda.

But unlike those who live in the Lower Mainland, rural British Columbians are beholden to the use of diesel and gas. We get virtually everything we consume via a truck or train.

“But where is the alternative affordable fuel source? It’s not there. People can’t switch between it like they can paper or plastic shopping bags. They’ve got no choice. And so they’re backed into a corner now and they’re continuously being hit. It’s a punishment. And this is where we’re calling on the NDP premier, David Eby. If I can reach across the Rockies back to my home province if you are a champion of the little guy and affordability, what are you doing?”

The Taxpayers Federation concludes that despite high inflation, the federal government has raised its carbon tax every year since 2019, reaching 65 dollars per tonne on April 1, 2023. Ottawa plans to further increase the carbon tax by 15 dollars per year until it hits 170 dollars per tonne in 2030.