October 5, 2011

Clamp Down on Gas Gouging – NDP’s Dougherty

NDP candidate Brian Dougherty puts in a lot of kilometres on the job and, like most working people has a big problem with gasoline prices that never seem to go down no matter how much the price of oil drops. Prices at the pump have risen thirty percent locally in the last year, and now, with world oil prices plummeting, drivers in Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke are still paying $1.25 per litre.

“Why is Ontario the only eastern Canadian province not to protect its drivers from unscrupulous price gouging by hugely profitable oil companies?” Dougherty asks. He's particularly concerned with the impact on rural residents. “Why should northern and rural drivers pay more when other provinces have moved to protect their rural and remote drivers years ago?”

A key pledge for Andrea Horwath and the NDP is to stop price gouging at the pumps by setting up a weekly price cap for gasoline so that drivers know what they're going to pay for the week. The NDP would give the Ontario Energy Board watchdog powers to stop oil companies from gaming the market.

“And we would begin removing the unfair HST from the price at the pump,” said Brian Dougherty. “We must provide immediate relief for Ontario drivers that are hit hard from unfair taxes and never-ending gas price increases.”

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