Gas prices will reach a new record high in the GTA for the second weekend in a row and one industry analyst tells CP24 that he believes the federal government is now “duty bound to provide some relief” at the pumps.
The average cost of a litre of gasoline in the Greater Toronto Area rose two cents overnight to 212.9 cents per lite and is set to rise another three cents to 215.9 cents per litre at midnight. That will, in turn, eclipse the all-time record of 214.9 cents per litre that was set just last weekend.
Dan McTeague, the president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, tells CP24 that he also anticipates gas prices will rise another penny or two on Sunday, potentially pushing the price of a litre of fuel as high as 217.9 cents per litre by the end of the weekend.
He said that the sustained run up in prices is being driven primarily by the ongoing war in Ukraine but is being exacerbated by a weak Canadian dollar.
“The idea that the Canadian dollar continues to show weakness, significant weakness in the face of higher demand and higher oil prices that's something we have never experienced,” he said. “Certainly in the past 30 years in Canada, oil prices go up and so does the value of the dollar. But right now it takes about 127 pennies and we've lost about two-and-a-half per cent on value of the Canadian dollar. That's added almost three cents a litre the price of gasoline.”
The price of gasoline has risen by about 64 per cent over the last 12 months and McTeague has said that he expects the pain at the pumps to continue for the foreseeable future, with a price of 225 cents per litre likely this summer.
He said that the Ford government’s pledge to reduce its portion of the gas tax by 5.7 cents per litre and the fuel tax -- which includes diesel -- by 5.3 cents per litre for six months as of July 1 will “help a little bit.”
But at this point he said that what is needed is federal government intervention.
“I think the federal government is now duty bound to provide some relief because it's not just about energy prices, it is now cascading into other areas,” he said. “I don't think you're going to find many Canadians arguing it's time for the federal government to take this issue of energy now leading to an inflationary crisis seriously.”
