Pumped up prices fuel concern
People recently filled up jerry cans and small oil drums with home heating fuel in Charlottetown because the price was so high, they couldn’t afford to order the minimum they needed to have it delivered.
“It’s killing us,” Bryden Dockendorff told SaltWire Network at the pumps. “If it goes up too high people simply aren’t going to be able to afford (to buy) gas or heat their homes.”
Fuel oil, gasoline, diesel, stove oil, propane — all across Atlantic Canada, the high price of fuel has people worried, having to choose between food or heating their homes, or contemplating having to give up jobs as cabbies or couriers because there’s just not enough profit to be made in driving for a living.
The pinch at the pumps affects almost every facet of everyday life, from the price of trucked-in or shipped-in groceries to the ability of volunteers to deliver Meals-on-Wheels or transport patients to medical appointments and cancer treatments.
Gas prices took a dip late last week — even so, folks in Nova Scotia, P.E.I., Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick were still paying between $1.71 and roughly $1.92 a litre for unleaded self-serve.
Andy Weir, executive director of the Truckers Association of Nova Scotia, says it costs more than ever to have big trucks on the road.
“It’s getting more challenging, and the worst of it is that consumers are going to have to pay because truckers won’t be (able to) afford to move if the fuel costs get too high,” he said. “It’s terrible. I’ve been in this business for 39 years and I’ve never seen it this bad.”
The price of oil per barrel also dropped last week, but still fuel prices remain at record highs, with worldwide markets affected by sanctions levied against oil-producing Russia for the war on Ukraine.
Across the region, Atlantic Canadians are calling on their governments to offer some measure of relief.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, the government has said the exorbitant fuel prices will be factored into the provincial budget, which is being tabled April 7.
In Nova Scotia, the provincial government recently announced help is on the way but didn’t divulge details.
New Brunswick is mulling a deferral of the carbon tax but that hasn’t happened yet.
On March 8, the P.E.I. government rolled out a $20-million relief package to address gas price hikes, including a direct, one-time payment to low- and middle-income earners — $100 or $150 each, depending on the income bracket.
The package also includes financial support for people on social assistance, transit users, student unions and non-profit organizations.
Any relief is surely welcome, but one-time payments won’t last long if prices keep going up.
What Atlantic Canadians need is a break on gas taxes to keep prices lower, or some other significant measure that can offer protection from further fluctuations at the pump.
And soon.