Good morning. It’s James Keller in Calgary.
As gasoline prices increase everywhere, driven by skyrocketing oil prices that have become especially volatile because of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Canada’s two westernmost provinces have responded very differently.
In British Columbia, drivers are paying the highest gas prices in the country, with a litre of gas costing more than $2.10 at some stations in Vancouver. Drivers in Vancouver and Victoria also pay the highest gasoline taxes in Canada. And yet, the provincial government has ruled out intervening with any kind of relief.
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Next door in Alberta, drivers pay among the lowest prices in the country, ranging from $1.56 to $1.68 a litre as of Monday, according to Natural Resources Canada. Those prices are still at record levels and more than double what they were at the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Premier Jason Kenney responded by announcing a tax break that will cost the province tens or potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. When West Texas Intermediate, the North American benchmark price, is above US$90 a barrel, as it is now, the province will pause its 13-cents-a-litre gas tax. Between US$80 and US$90 a barrel, a portion of the tax will apply. And below US$80 a barrel, the entire tax will return.
Mr. Kenney said the province stands to bring in billions of dollars in extra resource revenues because of high oil prices, which means it can help ease the pain on consumers. He also announced an electricity rebate for homes, businesses and farms, and repeated his promise to provide relief for natural gas prices next winter if those prices go even higher.
The Premier also used the occasion to take a shot at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government’s carbon tax. Mr. Kenney called on the federal government to lower the carbon tax, which is scheduled to increase again on April 1, and described his own tax cut as a “reverse carbon tax.”
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In B.C., Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth made it clear the province’s NDP government has no appetite to intervene. Mr. Farnworth said there’s “no simple solution” to deal with the rising cost of gas, which he said was dictated by forces outside the province’s control. Provincial taxes on gas amount to 27 cents a litre in Vancouver – by far the highest anywhere in Canada – and 20 cents a litre in Victoria. Elsewhere in the province, the rate is 14.5 cents.
The Opposition New Democrats in Saskatchewan are calling on Premier Scott Moe to follow Alberta’s lead, but Mr. Moe said the government isn’t considering cutting the gasoline tax right now.
“Alberta is free to do what they need to do. We are actively looking at what we can do to actively support Saskatchewan people through cost of living increases that isn’t solely through one commodity,” said Mr. Moe.
This is the weekly Western Canada newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox and Alberta Bureau Chief James Keller. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.