Albertans are having to dig a little deeper to go the extra mile. That’s certainly the case these days as prices at the pumps rise to staggering new heights.
The price of gasoline in Canada has soared dramatically in recent weeks, with prices at the pumps in Alberta now exceeding 157.9 per litre.
In Cochrane, motorists are shovelling out 167.9 cents per litre. That's a 10-cent jump from the previous week. In parts of the country known for higher fuel costs, like Vancouver, prices at the pump exceed $2 per litre.
This drastic uptick in costs has many in town reeling and has prompted legislative changes from the provincial government.
Many Cochranites are joined their fellow Canadians in expressing concern and frustration over the rising costs and their effect on people’s pocketbooks.
Brad Halvorson is a manager with PetSmart in Calgary. He commutes to Calgary five to six days per week and says recent price hikes have cost him. His average spend on gas per week? One-hundred dollars.
Halvorson said PetSmart plans to open a location in Cochrane, and he’s considering applying for a transfer to avoid the excess commute costs.
“It would be a better drive and I’d save time and money,” Halvorson said. “The problem is, I’ve spent a couple of years building my team and they’re great. So what do I do? Step down to a lower volume store for a couple of hundred extra bucks a month?”
Halvorson’s feelings are not unique. Many online have been lamenting the rise in prices. One man, identified online as Ron Kelly, said the business he works for is using up to 300 litres of gasoline per week.
“This hurts and, unfortunately, is going to have to get passed on to customers very soon,” Kelly wrote in a comment online. “I can’t even imagine what a larger company’s fuel bills have gone up.”
To offer some relief, the province announced March 7 it would be eliminating the provincial gas tax starting April 1, which amounts to roughly 13 cents per litre.
For many online, including Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie, the federal carbon tax was among the reasons for the gas price hike.
“Another option to immediately reduce the price at the pump would be the removal of Trudeau’s carbon tax,” said Guthrie in a statement. “As the price of [crude oil] continues to increase, so does the impact of the punitive carbon tax.”
But University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe said the federal carbon tax contributes much less to consumer pricing than many people think.
“The changes that we’ve seen – the rapid increase – is almost entirely due to global oil prices,” Tombe said. “Crude oil has contributed 36 cents per litre more to gasoline prices over the past year. The carbon tax specifically has contributed 2.2 cents per litre.”
Tombe said prices had gone up 39 cents as of last week over the past year.
“Crude oil prices added 36 of the 39 cents,” he said. “That’s basically the whole ball game.”
