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Is it just me, or does it seem that at some point enough is enough?
With the crude oil prices approaching $70/barrel, gas prices are at an all time high. Here where I live, the gas price increased 7.4 cents per litre yesterday.
What is even more frustrating is that the companies that sell gasoline in this country (Husky, Shell, ESSO) are also amongst its top producers. They don't pay for the oil they refine into gasoline, they just produce it.
I think a fairly strong case can be made for a degree of profiteering in the corporate board rooms.
As a result, I have determined two possible solutions:
1.) Since the outrageous price could be considered to be a crises of a sort, the government should institue a price freeze on gasoline, and (for the time being) stop charging fuel taxes and sales tax, in order to reduce gasoline to a mark around the .80 cents. or:
2.) We can have ourselves a good old-fashioned consumer revolt. I, for one, will be parking my truck as much as possible for the next month, and will be buying only as little gasoline as I can get away with. I think as many Canadians who can afford to walk more (I recognize that many need their vehicles for work, as I have in the past, but currently really don't) should park their vehicles and do so, or even use public transportation (where available).
I GUARANTEE YOU within three weeks we'll have the gasoline companies begging us to buy fuel at .75 cents/litre.
Who's with me?

   

How much is it today in Alberta?

   

Dropping or lowering feul taxes would be fair because they have been benefitting from increased prices for long enough. I'd be a bit concerned about a fed mandated price freeze if many from the west viewed it as a liberal attempt to block AB revenues. Would they view it as such?



Its an effective strategy if people really do use their car much less. A common circulating email urban legend is the "No gas purchase day" were they say if everybody stopped buying gas on say Wed then the gas companies would have huge profit holes but it doesn't work when people just buy their same amount of gas a day early/late. I for one am using my car left and walking to the grocery store more often.

   

I don't think it will work, but I do think everybody should be doing these things anyway. It's better for the environment, it's better for your health. It will save you money.

You don't have to give up your truck for when you need it, but you don't have to drive it to the corner store either. If you can't hobble over to the 7-11 to buy a pack of smokes, maybe you shoud have had kids so you could send them.

   

Actually, I'll let you in on a little secret about the oilpatch you may not know about:

The oil industry (properly referred to as the energy industry, but that's neither here nor there of this) may very well use more gasoline than anybody. When I worked on service rigs, for example, it was not uncommon for us to use a full tank of diesel in a day.
The industry would actually be doing itself a favor by controlling gas prices.
Furthermore, the average Albertan gets just as angry about gasoline prices as anyone else. Of course, gas is more expensive out east (this is actually to be expected, unfortunately for easterners), but the price can be controlled. Right now, even at .75 cents per litre, the companies would still be making plenty of profit. Of course, it wouldn't necessarily reflect the total value of the commodity, but profit is profit and at some point I think a consciencious businessman says "well, that's good".
Furthermore, I don't agree with the oil industry holding the average consumer responsible for something that it itself is repsonsible to do -- control the price of oil.



I'm talking about using vehicles as little as possible for a period of between 1 month and 3 months. That's an entire financial quarter. Trust me, the shit will hit the fan for these guys if something like this happens.

   

Where I currently am (in Lloydminster, Alberta), the price is 98.9 cents per litre. AND WE MAKE THIS SHIT JUST DOWN THE HIGHWAY IN FORT SASKATCHEWAN .

   

If you tell me that the average Albertan would support the feds doing a price freeze (do they even have that authority?) then I'll believe you. It would not be very helpful if they antagonized them any more right?



Ouch. It was only about 96/L in Brampton. A question. Can the provinces do anything about it? We look to the provinces to force (or try) insurance companies to lower prices.

   

With the amount of oil going south of the border you would think that Albertans and the rest of Canada should be able to purchase gas at a 'discounted' price seeing as it is our resource.

If the oil companies could sell us oil at $40 dollars a barrel last year and still make big profits then they should be able to do the same thing right now.

When the price of water goes up in Saudi Arabia we don't raise the price of our water.....

   

Well, it's actually a complicated subject when you get down to THAT. The oil in the middle east is of a notably different grade than that here in Canada.
There's a reason why Ontario, Quebec, Maritime Canada and the majority of the United States import middle eastern oil rather than buy oil from Western Canada. The oil in western Canada is of such a lower grade than that of the Middle East that it actually costs less money for most of North America to purchase it, ship it, and refine it than to upgrade and refine what they can buy from Western Canada.
But the fact is, so long as you are selling your product for more than it costs to produce it, you're earning profit.
It's a complex situation, but in my view, what is currently happening with gasoline prices is entirely unacceptable.

   

118.4¢ in Montreal today.
And we have 2 refineries on the island.

   

You also have public transportation in Montreal. So, say as I say: FUCK 'EM!

   

What's it at in Saskatchewan? I forgot to ask and would prefer not to talk to my relatives again until they are buying the beer.

   

105 in Saskatoon

   

I think our prices are around $ 2.84 per litre here, but I drive a
scooter. It's only a 250, but for about $ 10 a fill, it lasts most of the week. Honda makes a larger sized Silverwing scooter, which is 582 cc, but here in Taiwan, you can't take motorcycles onto the freeways and you need a heavy bike license for anything over 250 cc, so what's the point? They have some interesting names for their scooters too. I think it is Yamaha that makes the "Grand Dink" (those Chinese and their hang ups about their dicks).

   

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