Gas Prices and the Conservative Majority

I feel it’s safe to say that as long as we’ve got a Conservative majority, it’s very unlikely that we’ll see any kind of investigation into the price of gas at the retail level.

Prices will continue to soar.  They reached a peak in Toronto the other day, topping out over $1.40 per litre.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see gas prices top out over $2.00 within a year or two.

The are numerous ironies in this situation:

• While the Conservatives promised Canada no new taxes, this is exactly what we’re getting, as the primary beneficiary of gas price increases is none other than the Government of Canada.  Since May 2, taxes have effectively increased by about 12%.
• While the Conservatives promised economic stability, nothing says ‘economic tsunami’ like a massive increase in the cost of living
• Southern Ontario seems to be hardest hit with price increases, while places like Winnipeg and the Atlantic provinces are still paying a little more than a dollar for each litre of gas.  Coincidence?
• The topper:  the people that will be hardest hit by gas prices are those same folks who tipped the scales in Ontario towards a Conservative majority.  The folks in the 905 area code (the ‘Ford Nation’) have just f***ed themselves royally by electing a government that could care less about their biggest daily expense:  gas.  Congratulations.  Enjoy the commute while paying top dollar for gas and thinking ‘gee … maybe I should have supported a government that would have gone after gas gluttons and who might have put two or three dollars into public transit’.

I love the irony of the last reality that we now live in.  Those people in the suburbs who have been bitching about rising taxes and increases in the cost of living and wanting to chuggle around in their Yukons or Tahoes will be subsidizing Stephen Harper’s tax breaks for rich folks in Alberta and Forest Hill.

Nicely done.

Next time – if there is one – think before you vote.