Green Party Plan a ‘Gas’ Problem for Canadians

June 6, 2007

Like most Canadians, I’m frustrated by high gas prices when I fill up my truck.

So I was astounded this week when Green Party Leader Elizabeth May proudly announced that the Green Party would impose a 12-cent carbon tax on every litre of gas sold in Canada!

She also promised to cancel all Pacific Gateway funding and end all programs for the coal and oil and gas industries in order to phase out these sources of power completely.

Meanwhile, according to Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, “High gas prices are actually good for Canada in the medium and long term.” A Liberal private member’s bill Mr. Dion supports, Bill C-288, would allow the price of gas to rise to between $1.60 and $2.00 per litre.

Both the Liberals and the NDP are also suggesting our Conservative Government reverse our GST cut which reduced gas prices.

As for regulation, only the provinces and territories have the authority to regulate gas prices. Currently, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Quebec have chosen to regulate prices in some manner. Most evidence suggests that while regulation leads to more stable prices, it does not lead to lower prices.

Many different international, national, regional and local factors affect gas prices. There’s little we can do about these supply-and-demand issues. However, the federal Competition Bureau continues to monitor gasoline prices to ensure they are the result of market forces and not the result of anti-competitive acts, such as price fixing, price maintenance, and abusive behaviour by any petroleum firm.

Since 1990 the Competition Bureau has conducted six major investigations related to the gasoline industry. In each case it found no evidence that periodic price increases resulted from a national conspiracy to limit competition or from abusive behaviour by dominant firms in the market.

At the root of the opposition parties’ calls for higher gas prices is their belief that all Canadians can simply and radically cut their gasoline consumption.

I wholeheartedly support federal fuel-efficiency programs, including initiatives by our Conservative Government to encourage Canadians, specifically those living in large metropolitan areas like Toronto and Vancouver, to give up their SUVs or to shun their vehicles in favour of public transit. Yet we all know that the reality is different here in northern BC.

In our predominantly rural northern riding, road and weather conditions, and the concentration of employment in the natural resource and construction industries, dictate our use of larger, more rugged, but less fuel-efficient vehicles. In other words, a ‘smart car’ may not be a ‘smart choice’ in the rural north!

Our local municipalities are always working to enhance public transit services, but the limited population base here and the far-flung geography don’t provide optimum circumstances under which more sophisticated transit systems can be offered.

After two consecutive and cantankerous minority parliaments, political cynicism has, understandably, prompted many Canadians to look at the “new kid on the block”, the Green Party. While many of their environmental policies are well-intentioned and stimulate worthwhile debate, the Green Party’s 12-cent-per-litre price tag is one that few Canadians can afford!