On August 16th, 2005 at 7:10pm MST. I paid $20.00 canadian for 19.927 litres of regular unleaded gasoiline. that puts the price of a litre of gasoline of 1 dollar.
What the fuck is going on? Enough's enough. Now I understand gasoline prices are high all over the country. But their should be law prohibiting the price to go above 90 cents/per litre.
Of course I have no choice but to pay this high price. I live in a big city and a vehicle is a must. I'll try to cut down where I can. Unfortunately the oil companies and the governments have us all by the short and curlies. It probably wouldn't be so bad but the taxes are what really irks me. I believe the Canadian federal government puts a 10 cent/per litre tax, plus the Alberta provincial government puts a 7 cent/per litre tax. When us citizens complain each government points the finger at each other saying 'if they drop their tax we'll match it'. Of course this never happens.
The other day I heard from the Canadian Taxpayers Association that us Canadians are still paying a 1.5 cent/per litre deficit tax. Which was put into place in 1995 by the tax happy Liberanos. To reduce the deficit. Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't Canada gone 4 or 5 straight years without a deficit. So this tax should be over, no?
Oh right this is Canada, the low income people have to pay for the rich politicians and their friends. Flying them all over the world. Plus, I guess we have to give some to Quebec, otherwise they might separate. Heaven forbid.
Oh, well. It's the price we pay, I guess, to live in this nice country. Now I know what it's like to be a homosexual. Everytime I go to gas up I get fucked up the ass. Man it hurts. The only positive is that it's good for the Alberta coffers. But I see the politicians taking a tidy sum, in the form of a raise. Simply for being in control at the right time. It's gonna happen. I wonder if Albertans will get a break in taxes, because of these outrageous prices. If not heads will roll, 'and you can take that to the bank'. (If you know what movie that line is from I'll send you $5 bucks. first correct answer wins. can you read my mind?)
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4 comments:
The line is from an awful Stephen Segal Movie as a corrupt politicians catch phrase...I think the Movie was "Hard to Kill"...but I'm not 100% sure.
Also Canada has had a balanced budget for 9 straight years. What do you expect about the deficit tax...Fucking income tax was a "temporary Measure" for the war. The GST was brought in to balance the budget too...but you know that shit ain't goin' any where.
Tell me about gas prices... $1.12.9/l in NS. First off you can thank the Yanks for the prices...oil has risen from $46/barrell to $65 dollars in the two years since the Iraq War...What do you expect when the second largest oil reserves in the world get tied up in a war zone.I have two plans...One everyone boycott SHELL and PETRO CANADA. They are the two largest gas retailers in Canada. Stop going to them and they will be forced to drop they're prices. However knowing how much balls Canadian consumers have ( zero ) I know people will put their air miles ahead of the public good, here's the back-up. I'm going to market a natural aloe lubricant for you chapped anal passage. It will prevent friction as your ass gets fucked at the pumps, but then will soothe and heal until the next pump fucking occurs. I'll call it " assgas wax".
Interesting article in today's Chronicle Herald. I'll post the whole article as the link will disappear tommorow. WARNING LONG POST!
Saturday, August 20, 2005 Back The Halifax Herald Limited
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Re-regulation: oil firms just asking for it
By JIM MEEK
IS IT MY imagination, or is everyone taking gasoline prices seriously just as a provincial election looms large?
Both the New Democrats and the Hamm Conservatives put the pedal to the medal on this issue after gas prices topped $1.10 per litre this month.
And it got me wondering where they've all been since 2003 - when Nova Scotians last went to the polls in a provincial election.
Indeed, fuel prices have been building momentum like a slow tsunami since 2002, according to a Calgary consulting that tracks them closely.
Statistics compiled by MJ Ervin & Associates show the average pump price in Halifax was around 73 cents per litre in 2002, 78 cents in 2003, and 88 cents in 2004.
This average price in the four-week period ending July 26 was just under a buck a litre, and on Tuesday we were looking at a price of $1.13 in Halifax.
By the start of this week, Nova Scotia Finance Minister Peter Christie was muttering about the possibility of lower gasoline taxes.
But I wouldn't take much comfort in that.
The last time the Hamm government promised relief for working stiffs in Nova Scotia, it offered voters a 10 per cent income tax cut and then took it back.
Still, we mustn't grow too dim or doubtful.
And I was interested to see NDP Leader Darrell Dexter join the troupe of gas price avengers when he called for re-regulation of the industry.
Mr. Dexter - let us concede - has some powerful ammo in his arsenal.
On Aug. 16, gasoline prices in Prince Edward Island were 13 cents a litre cheaper than they were in Nova Scotia.
And today P.E.I. is the only province in Canada where you can get gas at any station for under $1 per litre.
The secret, according to Mr. Dexter, is regulation. Prince Edward Island regulates its gasoline industry; Nova Scotia does not.
Indeed, the Island's regulator denied the industry's application for a summer price hike, which explains the size of the current price gap between the two provinces.
As a result of this, the fans of regulation are now carrying the day in the public debate.
It hurts me to concede this, because I've been a fan of deregulation since 1991, when Nova Scotia decided to let the big oil companies have their way with us.
Back then, we were promised a tiger in the tank, a castle in the sky, competition in the streets, and cheaper gas prices at the pump.
And we always had P.E.I. next door for comparison purposes. But a warning here: That comparison is a complicated one.
Yes, gas has been cheaper in the regulated P.E.I. market since at least 2001. But until 2004, prices were higher in Nova Scotia because our government was gouging us with so much more civic spirit.
Four years ago, taxes on the Island were more than four cents cheaper per litre than those in Nova Scotia.
And even this year, we have the privilege of paying governments a two- to three-cent tax premium on every litre of gasoline we buy, compared to motorists on the Island.
So, does regulation work?
On the long-term evidence, I'd answer "No." Pre-tax gas prices have been consistently lower in Nova Scotia - until this year.
In 2004, for instance, pre-tax gas prices averaged 50.4 cents per litre in Halifax, compared to 52.4 cents per litre in Charlottetown.
This year, however, that differential has been wiped out - and in the current inflationary marketplace reversed.
Again, this gives the regulation lobby some powerful fuel. Nova Scotia's independent gasoline retailers point out that it costs an extra penny a litre to transport gas to P.E.I.
In addition, dealers on the Island are guaranteed a margin of at least four cents a litre, while their counterparts in this province often struggle with half as much markup.
Bottom line: it looks like the oil companies are now taking bigger profits in Nova Scotia's unregulated market.
Let's remind them, then, that deregulation was first brought in 14 years ago on the basis of their promise that it would lower prices.
Big oil is not now delivering on that promise.
In short, the big oil companies are now offering the Nova Scotia government little incentive for not re-regulating the industry - in a pre-election period.
Only real, direct, head-to-head competition on pricing could change this.
There's no reason that oil companies shouldn't compete for the gasoline dollar the same way grocery companies compete for the food dollar - through head-to-head price competition.
In short, the world's avowed champions of free enterprise should start acting like they believe in real competition in the marketplace.
Or get ready for the tough regulation their current practices invite.
Jim Meek is a freelance journalist based in Halifax. He is also editor of The Inside Out Report, a quarterly journal based on public opinion research. jmeek
Congratulations you are correct. It was a shitty Steven Segal movie. Now I got to send you $5 bucks. Email me your mailing address.
That's a interesting article, indeed.
You hang on to the five bucks...Buy me a beer if next time I get out to Cowtown...maybe next year if my airline doesn't fold, or if I don't go into hock keeping gas in the truck.
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