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Gasoline prices up from a year ago as drivers head into holiday weekend

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Canadians planning to hit the road for the last long weekend of summer can expect to pay more for gasoline than they did last Labour Day. Taps are photographed at a gas station in Frankfurt, Germany, on Oct. 5, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Michael Probst

By Amanda Stephenson in Calgary

As crude oil prices hit a twelve-month high on Friday, Canadians planning to hit the road for the last long weekend of summer will pay more for gasoline than they did last Labour Day.

The national average gasoline price as of Friday was $1.67 cents per litre, according to fuel price tracking website GasBuddy.com. That compares with $1.37 cents per litre on Sept. 1, 2022.

Gasoline prices began to rise in July and August of this year, in part due to crude oil production cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia. Crude oil prices continued their rise this week, due to dwindling crude inventories in the U.S. as well as projections that Saudi Arabia will extend its supply cuts into October.

On Friday, the benchmark crude price West Texas Intermediate hit a 12-month high, trading above US$85 per barrel compared to about US$75 per barrel one year ago.

Vijay Muralidharan, energy analyst and managing director with R Cube Consulting Inc., said driving demand through the summer months has been strong and North American refineries are dealing with a tight supply situation.

Still, he said consumers are likely to find some relief at the pumps into the fall and winter, as the impact of interest rate hikes by central bankers increasingly takes effect and global economies begin to cool, reducing demand for crude.

“I think there will be an economic slowdown in the in the near-term horizon,” Muralidharan said.

“Early next year I think you will see some breathing room, a demand pullback. It’s going to come, it’s inevitable.”

However, Muralidharan said in the meantime refinery stocks are so tight that any kind of unexpected outage or issue could cause a jump in prices.

“Even if it’s a 100,000 barrel or 200,000 barrel refinery, any kind of upset is going to cause price spikes,” he said.

According to GasBuddy.com, the most expensive gasoline this week can be found in B.C. and Newfoundland, while drivers in Alberta enjoy the cheapest fuel prices.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 1, 2023.

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2025 Federal Election

Alcohol tax and MP pay hike tomorrow (April 1)

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By Franco Terrazzano

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on all party leaders to stop a pair of bad policies that are scheduled to happen automatically on April 1: pay raises for members Parliament and another alcohol tax increase.

“Party leaders owe taxpayers answers to these two questions: Why do you think you deserve a pay raise and why should Canadians pay higher taxes on beer and wine?” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “Politicians don’t deserve a raise while millions of Canadians are struggling.

“And the last thing Canadians need is another tax hike when they pour a cold one or uncork a bottle with that special someone.”

MPs give themselves pay raises each year on April 1, based on the average annual increase in union contracts with corporations with 500 or more employees.

The CTF estimates tomorrow’s pay raise will amount to an extra $6,200 for backbench MPs, $9,200 for ministers and $12,400 for the prime minister, based on contract data published by the federal government.

After tomorrow’s pay raise, backbench MPs will receive a $209,300 annual salary, according to CTF estimates. A minister will collect $309,100 and the prime minister will take home $418,600.

Meanwhile, the alcohol escalator automatically increases excise taxes on beer, wine and spirits every year on April 1, without a vote in Parliament. Alcohol taxes will increase by two per cent tomorrow, costing taxpayers about $40 million this year, according to Beer Canada estimates.

The alcohol escalator tax has cost taxpayers more than $900 million since it was imposed in 2017, according to Beer Canada estimates.

“Politicians are padding their pockets on the same day they’re raising beer taxes and that’s wrong,” Terrazzano said. “If party leaders want to prove they care about taxpayers, they should stop the MP pay raises.

“And if party leaders care about giving Canadian brewers, distillers and wineries a fighting chance against tariffs, it’s time to stop hitting them with alcohol tax hikes year after year.”

The CTF released Leger polling showing 79 per cent of Canadians oppose tomorrow’s MP pay raise.

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2025 Federal Election

Poilievre To Create ‘Canada First’ National Energy Corridor

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From Conservative Party Communications

Poilievre will create the ‘Canada First’ National Energy Corridor to rapidly approve & build the infrastructure we need to end our energy dependence on America so we can stand up to Trump from a position of strength.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced today he will create a ‘Canada First’ National Energy Corridor to fast-track approvals for transmission lines, railways, pipelines, and other critical infrastructure across Canada in a pre-approved transport corridor entirely within Canada, transporting our resources within Canada and to the world while bypassing the United States. It will bring billions of dollars of new investment into Canada’s economy, create powerful paycheques for Canadian workers, and restore our economic independence.

“After the Lost Liberal decade, Canada is poorer, weaker, and more dependent on the United States than ever before,” said Poilievre. “My ‘Canada First National Energy Corridor’ will enable us to quickly build the infrastructure we need to strengthen our country so we can stand on our own two feet and stand up to the Americans.”

In the corridor, all levels of government will provide legally binding commitments to approve projects. This means investors will no longer face the endless regulatory limbo that has made Canadians poorer.  First Nations will be involved from the outset, ensuring that economic benefits flow directly to them and that their approval is secured before any money is spent.

Between 2015 and 2020, Canada cancelled 16 major energy projects, resulting in a $176 billion hit to our economy. The Liberals killed the Energy East pipeline and passed Bill C-69, the “No-New-Pipelines” law, which makes it all but impossible to build the pipelines and energy infrastructure we need to strengthen the Canadian economy. And now, the PBO projects that the ‘Carney cap’ on Canadian energy will reduce oil and gas production by nearly 5%, slash GDP by $20.5 billion annually, and eliminate 54,400 full-time jobs by 2032. An average mine opening lead time is now nearly 18 years—23% longer than Australia and 38% longer than the US. As a result of the Lost Liberal Decade, Canada now ranks 23rd in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index for 2024, a seven-place drop since 2015.

“In 2024, Canada exported 98% of its crude oil to the United States. This leaves us too dependent on the Americans,” said Poilievre. “Our Canada First National Energy Corridor will get us out from under America’s thumb and enable us to build the infrastructure we need to sell our natural resources to new markets, bring home jobs and dollars, and make us sovereign and self-reliant to stand up to Trump from a position of strength.”

Mark Carney’s economic advice to Justin Trudeau made Canada weaker while he and his rich friends made out like bandits. While he advised Trudeau to cancel Canadian energy projects, his own company spent billions on pipelines in South America and the Middle East. And unlike our competitors Australia and America, which work with builders to get projects approved, Mark Carney and Steven Guilbeault’s radical “keep-it-in-the-ground” ideology has blocked development, killed jobs, and left Canada dependent on foreign imports.

“The choice is clear: a fourth Liberal term that will keep our resources in the ground and keep us weak and vulnerable to Trump’s threats, or a strong new Conservative government that will approve projects, build an economic fortress, bring jobs and dollars home, and put Canada First—For a Change.”

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