May 2nd, 2016

NDP demands Wynne government listen to Northern cities and stop gas price gouging

Today during Question Period, Gilles Bisson, MPP for Timmins-James Bay, demanded the Wynne government listen to Northern municipalities and their call for the provincial government to rein in fluctuating gasoline prices in Ontario.

About a week ago, there was a 26-cent-per-litre difference on the price of gas from southern to northern Ontario. Within northern Ontario, there was a 10-cent-per-litre difference between Kirkland Lake and Timmins,” Bisson said.

“When is this minister and this government going to get on side and do what we’ve been asking, and what municipalities across the North have been asking; that is, to either get these gas companies to stop gouging the public or, if not, regulate the price of gas?

 

The Minister of Transportation avoided answering the NDP House Leader’s question.

“This Liberal government is the same government that got rid of Ontario Northland, the only train in northern Ontario. This is a government that has driven the price of electricity through the roof, to the point that residents and industry can’t afford it.  Now I’m asking him the question about the price of gas,” Bisson said.

“How could it be that gas companies are able to charge a 26-cents-per-litre difference for gasoline across this province? If you can sell a case of beer in Kenora for the same price you sell it in downtown Toronto, how is it that you’re going to have a 26-cent-a-litre difference on the price of gas? I ask you again, are you prepared to step in and get these guys under control and, if not, regulate them?

The Minister of Energy refused to take action on the issue.