by Harvey Oberfeld
May 15, 2022
I saw it! In Vancouver Sunday, gasoline hit $2.33.9 a litre.
Self-serve!
It’s unconscionable … and I don’t buy the oil industry’s bull**** that it’s because of the Ukraine war, refinery maintenance shutdowns, changeover to summer grades … or whatever other excuses they regularly dredge up.
It’s EXPLOITATION!
This is from CTV News just five days ago:
“As drivers from coast to coast face record prices at the pump, Canadian oil companies have seen profits surge. Cenovus recently announced its best first-quarter profit ever as the company raked in $1.6-billion, compared to $220-million dollars in the first quarter of last year.”
See the full CTV story by Ben Miljure here: https://bc.ctvnews.ca/oil-company-profits-soar-as-b-c-pump-prices-hit-record-highs-1.5897620#:~:text=As%20drivers%20from%20coast%20to,first%20quarter%20of%20last%20year.
“Imperial Oil had its best opening quarter in 30 years as it posted profits of $1.17-billion. Canadian Natural resources more than doubled its year-over-year first quarter numbers with a profit of $3.1-billion. And Suncor brought home $2.95-billion in quarter one, nearly quadrupling last year’s results of $800-million,” CTV reported.
And making it all worse, governments are not protesting/resisting or even questioning: they have actually JOINED the oil companies in pillaging motorists and, in fact, every consumer who buys groceries, clothing, ANY products moved by truck (which is almost EVERYTHING!).
The Vancouver Sun recently outlined ALL the taxes that have been PILED ON by the BC NDP and federal Liberal governments.
“In Vancouver, drivers pay 56 cents per litre in taxes while drivers in Victoria pay 47 cents per litre, according to the B.C. Utilities Commission. Drivers in the rest of B.C. pay 43 cents in taxes per litre of gasoline,” The Vancouver Sun reported May 10 , when gasoline was selling in the Lower Mainland for $2.23 a litre.
It went on to give the breakdown:
“That can be further broken down to 11 cents per litre in carbon tax, 10 cents per litre in the federal excise tax, 8.5 cents per litre in the provincial excise tax, and 9.5 cents a litre in GST. The transit levy varies depending on jurisdiction but it’s the highest in Metro Vancouver at 18.5 cents a litre.”
You can read the full Sun story here: https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/will-cutting-bc-gas-tax-lower-fuel-costs#:~:text=In%20Vancouver%2C%20drivers%20pay%2056,taxes%20per%20litre%20of%20gasoline.
This all adds up to BIG BUCKS for Translink and the BC government … as the provincial government PROFITS from your suffering
This year, the BC government will collect about $935 Million in fuel taxes and $1.6 Billion in carbon taxes … not to mention an estimated $705 million in ICBC revenues. Translink reportedly pulls in more than $300 Million a year from gas taxes.
And those figures are projected to keep increasing!
According to the government’s own Budget and Fiscal Plan for
2021/22 – 2023/24 tabled in the Legislature in April:
“Motor fuel tax revenue growth is expected to average 1.3 per cent annually over the
three-year plan. Diesel volumes are forecasted to grow 2 per cent annually and other fuel
volumes rise in line with real GDP growth. In 2023/24 the forecast assumes that gasoline
purchases decline due to provincial policy measures relating to clean energy initiatives.
Carbon tax revenue is forecast to rise an average of 8.9 per cent annually over the next
three years as the carbon tax rate increases from $45/tonne of CO2 equivalent emissions
in 2021/22 to $50 in 2022/23.”
Ka-ching! Ka-ching! Ka-ching!
Think about all that when you get your piddly $110 ICBC rebate ($165 for commercial drivers) … and apply it to your weekly gas purchases at $2.33.9 a litre!!!
And that’s just part of the story how the paychecks, wallets and bank accounts British Columbians (in fact, all Canadians) are being plundered by the politicians in power.
The Horgan NDP government’s PROFIT-making on the backs of struggling BC working families and businesses pales in comparison to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his federal Liberal government!
Because the GST component in our Fuel Taxes is NOT a fixed amount … but FIVE PERCENT of the TOTAL gas price.
So the federal take RISES MILLIONS OF DOLLARS with EVERY penny a litre of gas goes up!
And gas prices in the Lower Mainland are expected to reach $2.50.9 a litre by Summer.
Ka-ching! Ka-ching! Ka-ching!
It’s all a legalized shakedown! A ripoff of taxpayers! The rape of those who cannot fight back!
So WHY would the provincial or federal government LOWER their take from gasoline purchases???
BECAUSE it’s the DECENT thing to do in the face of the hardships their current WHOPPING taxes throughout BC (56 cents on EVERY litre sold in the Lower Mainland!!) are inflicting on WORKING individuals, families, small businesses, seniors …. those who trusted them … and put them in office.
Unfortunately, so far, that DECENCY has eluded Horgan and Trudeau.
Harv Oberfeld
It is all BS it is all about control the elites fly in their jets everyday while we sit at home.