Drivers take hit at gas pumps

Labour Day weekend in Niagara felt extra laborious at the pumps.

Motorists were met with prices ranging from $1.30 to $1.35 a litre during the final long weekend of summer.

And while prices were expected to drop as oil refineries and pipelines in hurricane Harvey-affected Houston resumed operation, it was small solace to Niagara Falls tourists who saw a bigger chunk of their vacation budget go in the tank. Many who were approached while filling up shrugged their shoulders and said they’re getting numb to yoyo gas prices every time bad weather affects the United States.

“It makes no sense … it just feels like gouging,” said one driver from Michigan who declined to offer his name. “I just put $60 (in the tank) and it’s not even full.”

Filling up on Lundy’s Lane, London’s Heinz Christ knew what was coming as soon as the hurricane hit Houston on Aug. 25.

“I kind of figured it was going to go up,” he said. “But if you want to go somewhere you need the gas. No sense crying about it.”

The U.S. lost about five million gallons in daily gasoline production after hurricane Harvey shut down refineries and a major pipeline.

But Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates is wondering why Canada isn’t refining its own oil to avoid such drastic price hikes.

“Why are we sending our oil to Texas to be refined when we can take it out of the ground, we can refine it right here, we can create good-paying jobs right here in Canada,” he said in a video posted to his Facebook page, standing in front of a Petro-Canada station charging 132.9 cents a litre.

When contacted, Gates stressed hurricane Harvey shows how “climate change is real,” with storms “like we’ve never seen” in recent years. It’s all the more reason Ontario should regulate its gas prices such as some neighbouring provinces.

“We’ve been calling for this since 2011,” he said. “Take a look at the Atlantic provinces, take a look at Quebec. They’ve already regulated gas prices and shown that it’s gone down.”

He said motorists are justifiably angry at the feeling they’re being taken advantage of.

“We need some sort of transparency.”

By Sunday afternoon, Ontariogasprices.com showed the cheapest gas in Niagara Falls at the Esso station on Lundy’s Lane and Drummond Road, charging 130.3 cents a litre.

The Ontario average on Sunday was 127.316 cents a litre, while the national average was 122.385 cents a litre. jlaw@postmedia.com