VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – As the cost of filling your gas tank is going nowhere but up, it’s hard to escape the topic and impossible if you are the premier.
As John Horgan was speaking at a press conference April 23, one British Columbian couldn’t contain their frustration, yelling out: “Carbon tax!”
The premier responded: “That one cent’s killing you, buddy.”
But Horgan followed up his initially flip response to flack over his government’s one cent increase to the provincial carbon tax, saying it’s vital for the future and not to blame for the 25 cent increase to each litre of gas.
“Although people may want to blame taxes, those taxes that were put in place to improve roadways and improve green initiatives, I think the end result is we need to talk to the gas companies about why they are not refining more product to meet demand in the market place,” he said.
“The margins here are greater than they are in any other jurisdiction and that’s fact. The federal government has a consumer protection agency that should be looking at that,” he said. “I will raise it with the prime minister next time I have the opportunity.”
Horgan added he had hoped the federal government would do more about the issue in advance of the coming election.
“They should be taking action going into an election campaign in the fall,” he said. “They should have more concern about the travelling public in British Columbia than they are showing at this time.”
The premier said the province is seeing a spike in price ahead of the usual summer jump but is not yet considering any provincial price break.