[Whos_Voting_Oil]

The feds are getting 6% plus 10 cents on every litre sold in Canada so 16 cent for the feds and province is getting 16.5 cents. Wow double tax is right!
Tax components based on average retail gasoline prices for the first six months of 2006.
Canada Avg.
Retail Price Excluding Taxes 66.0
Federal Excise Tax (flat rate) 10 cents a litre
Federal GST 6
Provincial Sales Tax 2.0
Provincial Excise Tax (flat rate) 14.5
Canadians being gouged at gasoline pumps, report says
1 hour, 52 minutes ago



By Julian Beltrame


OTTAWA (CP) - Canadians are being gouged at the gas pumps, paying in excess of 15 cents a litre more for gasoline than justified by costs and historic petroleum industry profit margins, says a report being released by a think-tank on Thursday.


The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says it examined gasoline prices before and after hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005 and found that the rules of the game for pricing gasoline at the pump had changed overnight.


Hugh Mackenzie, an economist and researcher with the group, said there has always been an "unexplained differential" between what consumers pay at the pump and what they would be paying if the industry tied prices to costs and traditional profit margins.


"Up to the point of August 2005, what you saw was a normal pricing pattern where the unexplained price would fluctuate between the positive and negative," said Mackenzie.


"But after the fall of 2005, there's a marked change and the price differential became mostly on the positive side and grew."


"Frankly, I think in Canada there was psychological barrier of $1 a litre, and the industry probably felt there would be real consumer resistance to pushing prices beyond that. What they discovered is that the market will in fact bear going well north of $1 a litre and they took advantage."


The overcharge at the pump ranges from 15 cents a litre in Toronto to as much as 27 cents a litre in Vancouver, the report says.


Mackenzie argues that events such as Katrina and the recent disruptions at oil refineries may give producers an excuse to raise prices, they cannot justify the hefty increases on the basis of costs.


"The crude oil that ends up in our tanks today doesn't cost one cent more to produce today than it did in 2001 when the pump price was less than 60 cents a litre," the report says.


"And the windfall for Canadian producers amounts to $1.7 million every day for every dollar the price of crude goes up."


As evidence for the claim, the report attempts to gauge the relationship between crude oil prices and gasoline prices at the pump. At current exchange rates, it calculates, a US $1.25 per barrel increase should result in an increase of one Canadian cent per litre. But in September 2005, when crude oil prices increased by US $10 a barrel, gasoline prices more than doubled, and at one point increased five-fold, above what the crude oil price justified.


"I think the facts speak for themselves," he said.


Tony Macerollo of the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute, which represents major Canadian refiners, said he "categorically rejected" the argument.


While he conceded industry profit margins have increased, he said there were a number of reasons for the current high prices, including increased demand, speculation and the fact many North American oil refineries postponed upgrades in the wake of Katrina. "We may still be experiencing some catch up."


But Liberal MP Dan McTeague said the report merely confirms what most Canadians instinctively know, that oil companies are reaping profits on the backs of consumers who have no choice but to pay the asking price.


"Frankly, it doesn't matter," said McTeague. "If a group of people want to push the price of gasoline beyond what is realistic, there's no one in Canada there to stop them."


The MP says competition in the oil industry is an illusion. The four major distributors in Canada each set the price in the region they control and the others follow, he said.

"You have a classic oligopoly and it's important for Ottawa to get it's collective head out of the sand because it is responsible for our flawed Competition Act."

The Competition Bureau has conducted several investigations into allegations of price collusion but has cleared the industry of wrongdoing.

McTeague, who has sought amendments to the act, said the government should also look into establishing an independent body that could monitor and analyze gasoline price increases so that Canadians will know whether they are justified.

[Banff]

Its a pleasure to see all these threads showing up about gas prices . Lets just hope people get irate enough to turn this into a big enough uprising and maybe start setting up road blocks on highways.

[Banff]

IceOwl IceOwl:

I'd rather see people decide to adopt more responsible driving habits and drive a whole lot less often.

It would be nice if one could decide that on their own but its already been forced . Katrina topped the list on that one .... it is one situation where I don't give a shit if the people suffering there fall off the face of this earth and it should be one of those areas in the world which should be third world and its wealth stripped from its citizens and oil companies until those affected by Katrina around the world recouperate first . F**K florida nuke the hole . The industry , gov , and media want to blame Katrina for the largest rise in histories prices then so be it ... Die florida die ... word of advice to investors STAY AWAY FROM FLORIDA AND SO SHOULD CANADA ...IT IS AN UNRELIABLE REFINING RESOURCE NOT WORTH FORGIVING but pay attention to who the companies are , they should go down in history and not rebuild elsewhere .

[ridenrain]

CKNW98 in BC has been on this for a few months now, and their also running a petition to get some form of price control in BC. Vancouver has the highest gas prices in North America, and has for a number of years now.

$1:

IF YOU'RE TIRED OF PAYING SOME OF THE HIGHEST GAS PRICES IN NORTH AMERICA, YOU WILL WANT TO BE A PART OF OUR "FIGHT BACK FRIDAYS" CAMPAIGN. JON MCCOMB AND THE WORLD TODAY WILL BE BROADCASTING FROM A DIFFERENT HIGH TRAFFIC LOCATION EACH FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND YOU'RE INVITED TO COME BY TO SIGN OUR PETITION TO THE B.C. GOVERNMENT.

http://www.cknw.com/shows/show_worldToday.cfm

[Banff]

ridenrain ridenrain:

CKNW98 in BC has been on this for a few months now, and their also running a petition to get some form of price control in BC. Vancouver has the highest gas prices in North America, and has for a number of years now.

$1:

IF YOU'RE TIRED OF PAYING SOME OF THE HIGHEST GAS PRICES IN NORTH AMERICA, YOU WILL WANT TO BE A PART OF OUR "FIGHT BACK FRIDAYS" CAMPAIGN. JON MCCOMB AND THE WORLD TODAY WILL BE BROADCASTING FROM A DIFFERENT HIGH TRAFFIC LOCATION EACH FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND YOU'RE INVITED TO COME BY TO SIGN OUR PETITION TO THE B.C. GOVERNMENT.

http://www.cknw.com/shows/show_worldToday.cfm

I sympathize crap I lost my job over Katrina . It will go down in history for me . Lobbying against those companies who started the Katrina rumour as the cause will eventually come out in the open thats when I'll play hardball with those people and companies . Hope I'll get somewhere with it in the future but I doubt it .

[ridenrain]

We were being told that the election speculation in Nigeria was the reason why gas prices were going up.. then it was those 11 oilfield workers somewhere that were kidnapped.
Well, the elections over and the oilfield workers were returned so gas should be going down now, right? Besides, how much oil does Canada buy from Nigeria anyways?

[baylee]

ridenrain ridenrain:

CKNW98 in BC has been on this for a few months now, and their also running a petition to get some form of price control in BC. Vancouver has the highest gas prices in North America, and has for a number of years now.

Thats because the RIGHT WING BC GOVERMENT ( who just voted to give themselves a minimum 29% raise) put a transit levy on the price of gas.

In other words, if you dont use the bus, you pay for the people who do

But really people. As I said in another threrad.

Harper in opposition said the LIBS MUST remove the GST from gas prices as it was/is a tax on a tax.

Harper now reaps more benifits from that tax on a tax than the LIBS did.

BUT.......................................?

[ridenrain]

Do you live in BC, ladybug?
Have you tried to take the bus anywhere in the GVRD?
How long would it take to go to Langley, ya figure?
Were you here when the NDP was in power?

You don't have a freak'n clue.

[baylee]

ridenrain ridenrain:

Do you live in BC, Baylee

.

Yea, I do

$1:

Have you tried to take the bus anywhere in the GVRD?

And that has to do with what?

As I said, the price of gas in Vancouver is higher than the rest of the country, because a drunk driver in charge of a RIGHT WING party slapped a large surcharge onto the price of gas

$1:

You don't have a freak'n clue

Yea, I do



So rideatrain.

What are your thoughts that harper when in opposition said the GST must be removed from the price off gas?

And now you are paying more GST when you buy gas than you did when the LIBs were in power?

$1:

Were you here when the NDP was in power?

Sure was.

Wasnt a good time was it?

[ridenrain]

Was gas cheaper when the NDP was in power? No.
Did they do anything about gas? No.
They didn't even build any new roads.
When's the last time you went across the Port Mann, Pattullo or Alex Fraser? They are jammed up so much of the time that busses no longer go on most of them.
It takes over 2 hours to get to Langley on a bus. It takes almost 2 hours to go anyplace outside of Vancouver on a bus. Not hard to imagine that most people are not going to spend 4 hours of their lives a day, on a bus.

[Banff]

IceOwl IceOwl:

Banff Banff:

IceOwl IceOwl:

I'd rather see people decide to adopt more responsible driving habits and drive a whole lot less often.

It would be nice if one could decide that on their own but its already been forced.

Are you saying you're incapable of making better decisions?

No my decisions were made just before Katrina ...because of Katrina they resulted in being bad decisions that I'm stuck with for awhile. Of course everyone has a story but I don't see a problem with supporting a thread which may piss of other people than myself .

[baylee]

ridenrain ridenrain:

Was gas cheaper when the NDP was in power? No.

Well yea, it was, a lot cheaper

$1:

Did they do anything about gas?

I dont think the NDP in BC were in a position to remove the GST from the price of gas.

Maybe you know otherwise?

$1:

hat busses no longer go on most of them.
It takes over 2 hours to get to Langley on a bus. It takes almost 2 hours to go anyplace outside of Vancouver on a bus. Not hard to imagine that most people are not going to spend 4 hours of their lives a day, on a bus.

So again,Just what does that have to do with the fact people who DONT use the bus, in the GVRD, are forced to pay higher gas prices to subsiiz e those who do?

[ridenrain]

baylee baylee:

So again,Just what does that have to do with the fact people who DONT use the bus, in the GVRD, are forced to pay higher gas prices to subsiiz e those who do?

So you're saying that only the people who use transit should pay for it? That's a dumb thing to say, expecially for a lefty like you. I'm right wing and I still accept that transit is something that benefits all of us, so all of us should help pay for it.
Even subtracting our higher taxes, we still pay more than anywhere else in North America.


Oh, but Harper did this:

$1:

On July 1, 2006, the Government of Canada began its program to offer individual Canadians a non-refundable tax credit to help cover the cost of monthly or longer duration public transit passes.

The Liberals talked about this for decades but, like everything else, all they did was talk.