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Getbig Main Boards => Politics and Political Issues Board => Topic started by: 24KT on May 14, 2009, 07:16:03 PM
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Gas Going Up Again In Time For Long Weekend
Thursday May 14, 2009
CityNews.ca Staff
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Question: How can you tell a long weekend is coming?
Answer: Look at the price of gas.
It's going up again, as we head into what's considered the first unofficial long weekend of the summer. And unlike the law of gravity, what goes up never seems to come down.
But 400 lucky drivers aren't worried about that - they got their fill-up for free on Thursday morning. A promotion by Shell to boost a new form of gasoline led to the surprise freebie at a station near Bouvaird and Dixie in Brampton around 7am.
When Breakfast Television gave out the secret address on air, the backup that resulted stretched for several kilometres.
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"I listened to BT this morning and free gas! I'm right down the road, so I said 'Let me get down here because I'm headed to New York for the day. I'll get some free gas and I'm on my way," noted happy motorist Les Jackson.
For some it was almost a religious experience. "The price of gas is so high, thank God and bless the people in the gas station," exults Jasyaslin Blain of her penny-free petrol. "Praise the Lord!"
Elsewhere, BT's Jennifer Valentyne handed out $25 Canadian Tire gift cards, as another station at Queensway and East Mall cut the price at its pumps by five cents.
If you missed either deal, get ready to pay more. Gas almost always goes up ahead of the Victoria Day long weekend as more people get in their cars and travel north. Liberal gas watchdog Dan McTeague says this one doesn't appear to be any exception. He's warning of another 1.2 cent a litre jump at midnight Friday, bringing the cost of a fill up at most GTA stations to 95.4 cents a litre. ($3.61 /gallon)
But it's not just the oil companies and market forces that are pushing you at the pumps - governments are reaping huge windfalls from the taxes they collect whenever you fill your tank. How much of a difference does it make? According to the Natural Resources Ministry, when gas is selling for 94 cents, the taxman's greedy fingers pull out almost 30 cents extra per litre from your wallet.
And in tough times, that's too much for the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation. "Roughly 37 per cent of fill-up goes to taxes," explains the group's Kevin Gaudet. "That works out to over $15 billion across the country when it's all added up." He'd like to see it lowered by at least five cents a litre.
But while the feds claim they need that money for infrastructure, Gaudet argues there's no way of knowing if it goes there or just what that means. "That could be bocce courts or skate rinks instead of roads, bridges and highways. We haven't had any success yet in getting the gas tax reduced despite the fact that Mr. Harper promised."
Most drivers are hoping this latest gas spike isn't a prelude to another summer of soaring oil prices, something that's made them hot under the collar in the warmer months of the year.
Meanwhile, you can take some small comfort in knowing that others have it a lot worse than we do. In Montreal and Vancouver, the projected pump prices are both back over the dollar a litre mark, a rate we haven't seen here since last August.
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I have a feeling this is going to be a very, very, profitable summer. 8)