Canadian Gas Prices - Who’s to blame?
I’m generally not a writer. Nor am I one for getting into politics, but after Talking to Wanda from boycottgas.ca, I was a little upset.Here in Northern Alberta ( where we pull a lot of oil and Natural gas out of the ground and supply much of Canada and USA) Gas prices are $114.9, and talking to Wanda in Ontario where gas was $101.9. Where does this make sense?
Whom’s making the money? And why does Ontario get a break, considering they have Provincial tax added where Alberta doesn’t.
Now I know the oil companies Get paid “Market Value” by the barrel. So they aren’t making the “extra “money.
Now From Personal Experience As I owned a gas station for a few years. It’s not the gas station owner. I made 3 cents per liter. I made that regardless of the price of gas.
Whom do I think is to blame? Well I think it’s the ” Refining Companies ” Example Shell has a Refinery in Southern Alberta. So In Alberta Shell buys it by the barrel and Refines it for all their Shell Gas Stations. I know Fas Gas has now went to “Esso” Gas for all their gas stations. Fas Gas is an Alberta owned gas station franchise. I am only talking about them, since I owned one of theirs, and I know how it worked. Fas Gas used to buy from Petro Canada until the deal went through with Esso. I know Fas Gas bought from which ever Refinery was “cheapest” because the slips of paper of received gas would come in and it would say which Product and where it came from. I wish it would of said “cost” on the delivery sheet. I asked the Territorial Manager about the cost one day and I was told they profited about 10 cents per liter, ( I don’t know if this is truth or not) but this was before the prices across Canada became so radical.
The Fas Gas I owned was not a power house, I only followed what the other stations were doing, basically. I got a phone call from a Territory Manager and got told what to change the gas to, If another gas station lowered their price, I would have to call it in, and then get permission to lower it. To help the consumer and myself out, when the other gas stations raised their price, I pretended not to notice until my phone call came in.
Why do I think the gas prices are different from Alberta and Ontario? Simple, I think because of population base, and many more politicians reside in riding in Ontario then any other province. That has to be the reason. It makes No other sense. Perhaps The citizens of Ontario are much like Wanda from Boycottgas.ca and are putting pressure on the ones that have the power to change.
What is the price of a 4 Liter Milk Jug? I asked Wanda and she figured where she lives it was close to $4.00 Here in Northern Alberta ( where we also have dairy cows) $5.89. With the high prices of gas in Alberta we are now having high prices of Inflation on everything. Or this is what people are using as an excuse anyhow.
We always talk about the gas prices at the forum and Marty announced this site. Check out Gas Gouge.ca to see how much your being gouged at the pump today. Northern Alberta has been paying according to this site about 40 cents a liter pure profit for someone.
I think we as the citizens of this country need to do something, Whether it’s joining a boy cott, Phoning our MLA’s, Start a Petition, We need to do something, I come to the conclusion I’m tired of complaining about it, It’s time to do something.
What are your thoughts about the Canadian Gas Prices?
June 18th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
I can understand your frustration with Ontario’s gas prices being “cheaper” and it does look fishy. I’ve lived in Alberta as a child and I remember the grief my father used to get from everyone he worked with. He was automatically treated like an outsider and like he was better than everyone else because he came from Ontario. He was constantly told how lucky he was living in Ontario and that everything was cheaper here. That is until he finally stood up and said how much we pay in taxes. That shut everyone up pretty quickly. The point is, that it doesn’t matter what part of Canada you live in the gas prices are rediculous and by absolutely no means should they be where they are. Same goes for pretty much everything. Cost of living, inflation etc. The point is that there are too many greedy people out there and they do need to be put in their place. The only problem is that for the time being, we NEED gas. Not want it, but need it. Most of us to get to work have to travel (because again, it doesn’t matter where you are in Canada, the job market sucks right now and you take whatever you can get). For most people riding the transit systems or sharing a ride are not options. Not only that, we need gas to get the transport trucks that carry our food and necessities to where we can get them. Everyone knows that right now we are very dependant on gas and we will be for a while. Until that changes, they can charge whatever they feel like charging because they know that no matter what they ask, they know we will buy. Same with cigarettes ironically. Actually, it’s the same for everything really. I’m noticing a pattern. If we’re dependant on it, the price is astronomical. In reality it should be the opposite. If it’s a necessity, it should be cheap. If it’s not a necessity (like junk food) the prices should be inflating. Things need to change, no matter where it is you are living.
June 18th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Chrystal. It wasn’t an Alberta vs Ontario thing. I live In Alberta, and can only talk about what I see here around me which is the 114.9 and talking to someone 3/4 of the way across the country get it for 12 cents less, and we actually make and refine it here, blows my mind. I just kinda thought perhaps Obviously someone in Ontario is making things happen, and perhaps us Albertan s arent” doing enough to make the price come down a bit.
June 5th, 2008 at 12:52 am
I think one of the primary reasons for the surge in oil prices in generally would have to be with the geometric growth of both the economies of China and India, when supply begins to fall short of demand then it can be expected that the producers of oil can hike their prices. I think the problem is that we are all looking for someone to blame instead of doing things like promoting conservation. Encourage people to car pool, also research areas of renewable energy. I think the age of cheap gasoline is now a thing of the past.