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George Sweeney, Opposition Government Services Critic and MHA for the
District of Carbonear - Harbour Grace, says he is completely appalled that
the Petroleum Products Pricing Commission announced this morning that gas
prices will be increasing despite a steady drop in the price of oil on the
world markets. "This announcement today is the final evidence needed to
justify a review of the operations of this office," said Sweeney. "It is
simply not good enough that consumers are faced with an increase in prices
when the price of oil has finally dropped. Something is wrong with the
system and government must fix it before this gouging of consumers is
allowed to continue."
Sweeney says he would like to see government make an number of changes to
the way in which the office operates. "First, I want to see a protection
mechanism put in place for consumers so that when the price of oil drops
substantially like it has for the past week, that consumers experience those
savings. It is not fair for rich oil companies to feed off regulated prices
on the backs of consumers in this province.
"Secondly, there are problems with the way in which the office is using
the interruption formula to raise prices. I have raised these concerns in
the past and I think the only solution is for government to change the
regulations. This interruption formula should only be used when there is a
threat to supply, not simply because world prices have increased for a short
period of time."
The Liberal MHA also believes that the time has come for government to
cut back on the taxes it collects once gasoline reaches a certain price.
"Government could easily reduce the provincial excise tax on gasoline once
it reaches a certain level. There would be no revenue loss for the
government because these are only windfall profits being taken as consumers
struggle.
"Something needs to be done about the high price of gas in this province
before it gets to the point where consumers are forced to park their cars.
Even with regulation, gas prices are the highest in the country in this
province. I am calling on government to act immediately to do something
about this pending crisis." |