Key takeaways:
- ‘I worry that this will cascade throughout the economy,’ one critic said.
- With gas costs exceeding $2 per liter in many regions of Canada, an ex-MP and affordable energy advocate said he’s concerned that the rising costs will ‘cascade throughout the economy.’
National gas costs are increasing to staggering highs this weekend, with drivers in Vancouver told to brace for as much as $2.34 per liter at the pumps.
Figures on the fuel tracker GasBuddy show the national average cost of regular gas reached $1.95 per liter on Saturday afternoon, with regional averages peaking at $2.15 in Newfoundland and Labrador and $2.11 in British Columbia.
“I worry that this will cascade throughout the economy,” Dan McTeague, an ex-Liberal MP and present president of the group Canadians for Affordable Energy, briefed CBC News Network.
“I’ve not witnessed anything like this since my days doing this as a member of Parliament [in 2008].… At least back then, the Canadian dollar was firm, and it protected Canadians from these higher costs.”
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McTeague stated in another discussion that Canadians “are taking a pounding on this, and it’s not the ones who go for kicks and giggles, it’s the ones that require this to get to job.… And it will be long term.”
He said these costs are unsustainable for the middle class and those on set earnings.
Numerous experts have attributed skyrocketing gas costs to market destabilization carried on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and healing global demand as COVID-19 limitations ease.
McTeague accepted those as factors but described the spike as a supply problem predating the fight and only exacerbated now.
Source – cbc.ca
