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The Canadian Way: Passively Paying More At The Pump
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by steffanileman | April 29, 2011 at 10:46 am
147 views | 2 Recommendations | 7 comments
By Jim Stanford, Globe and Mail
"In the Middle East, fury over the rising cost of energy and other essentials sparked the overthrow of tyrants. In China, desperate truckers held spontaneous strikes to protest against gasoline prices. Even in politically paralyzed America, the government launched a major inquiry into oil industry pricing.
But in Canada, a seemingly well-functioning democracy, soaring energy prices haven’t caused a political ripple – even during a federal election campaign. What gives?
Canadians spent $50-billion on gasoline in 2010. This year, if current prices are sustained, we’ll spend $15-billion more. Paying more for what we already buy is, in effect, a $15-billion (or 1.5-per-cent) reduction in national disposable income. Non-gasoline purchases are already being crowded out. Add the impact of other energy bills (such as home heating), and the pain is worse. If history is our guide, this latest price surge will result in hardship, job loss, perhaps even recession..."
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Canadians are the only oil-producing suckers in the world that don't enjoy inexpensive fuel prices but, in fact, pay substantially more than their biggest export market. Who brought us here? It certainly wasn't the NDP, and not even the federal Liberals. The Liberal impostors in Victoria with their carbon tax are another matter.
It's therefore preposterous for Stephen Harper to suggest that we will pay more at the pump with an NDP government, since the opposite will likely be true.
If the Prime Minister is on the side of the consumer and wants to avoid the recession that is certainly coming with rising oil prices, and possibly get his much coveted majority government, he could do the following:
Announce that he will remove all tax on fuel forthwith,
Criminalise speculation on oil and other strategic resources,
Institute a domestic energy pricing policy.
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steffanileman
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (7)
at 08:31 on May 2nd, 2011
It is because this "election campaign" is bogus, so the leaders are not really taking it seriously. It is not like anything will change tomorrow. Moreover, there is no gaurantee of a majority government, and the way the leaders go at it, and ignore what ACTUALLY matters to Canadians, we could end up with another election in the near future. Gas prices are high because taxes on fuel are high. Taxes on fuel are high because ALL of the political parties in Canada are more concerned with their own paycheques than their constituents. Democracy in Canada failed long ago, through politician induced voter apathy, and as a result all of us now pay the price, at the pump and everywhere else. Those with the power to fix the problem will not, the NDP included, because it is such a great money making strategy, and heaven forbid politicians should take a cut in pay to cover the gap. So we will keep getting bent over that barrel of light sweet crude....
at 11:05 on May 2nd, 2011
You're right. The reason most people don't bother to vote is, that nothing really changes after the election. At least we used to have politicians that offered the people a dream and hope, and they don't even do that any more, and that's really stupid. Maybe you'll remember that Dave Barrett's NDP came to power on the promise of cheap auto insurance because that really mattered to the people. Glen Clark's NDP was voted out with a landslide because people were really pissed off at Big Brother's photo radar. That we got a much worse Big Brother is of course another question. What they've been saying in this election is that we won't get much if we vote Conservative or Liberal, and you couldn't possibly vote NDP because they've never governed. That's exactly why those two guys may get the middle finger from the people today. All they needed to do was to promise to remove taxes from gasoline, and it would've decided the election...
at 06:57 on May 3rd, 2011
Politicians love voter apathy, however. The fewer people bothering to vote, the fewer interest groups there are to pander to. As a result, we have the big parties, with no intention of looking after the people, and no alternatives. Even if Jack Layton HAD thought to offer cuts to gas prices, it would never have lasted in Parliament, because it is too much of a money maker, and his party like to earn more in a day to do nothing but squabble like children than many Canadians earn in a year; they may claim to be different, but I have been watching politics long enough to realize you can only trust a politician as far as you can throw them (if that). True, Jack Layton is the smallest of the lot, and would probably go further, but not by much.... Gas prices are just one of many signs that Canadian democracy has failed. But unless the monarchy steps in and forces a change, or we see a military/RCMP coup I do not see any improvement in the next 4-5 years....
at 10:03 on May 3rd, 2011
I like the idea of a military/RCMP coup, but the tanks are in Afghanistan, and RCMP is too busy writing tickets. Maybe we should appeal to the gay community, they're the only revolutionaries that get their way.:)
at 12:05 on May 3rd, 2011
Well, now that the Bloc has fallen, yes. Though now that women out number men in the work-force, there may be a few extreme feminists looking for a new cause.
Also, in all fairness to the RCMP, writing tickets is a far smaller part of their mandate these days than fighting tooth and nail with the BC Liberal party over which one of them is corrupt and which one is being smeared in the media....
at 12:25 on May 3rd, 2011
I haven't heard that one, please write about it.
at 08:45 on May 4th, 2011
That is one of the main reasons the BC government demanded more control over the RCMP... the BC rail scandal and raid on the legislature made them look bad. Every time the Campbell administration got bad press due to an RCMP investigation, within a few weeks the Mounties were the ones getting smeared. It almost seemed too convenient. Particularly when you consider the fact that, generally at least, the complaints against the RCMP were over the fact that they were doing their job, use of force being the main topic. Very few of the complaints were actually justified; Robert Dziekański's death, for example, was a break-down of training... improper use of the taser, for example, being a main issue raised by the enquiry. However, it should also be noted that the taser is a safer choice than a 9mm round to the chest or head. But the Dziekański is the exception, the majority of the complaints came to light at rather convenient times for the Liberals, and later turned out to have little or no validity...