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Letter: Gouging gas prices

The oil companies rely on our apathy and short memories when setting gas prices
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Gouging gas prices

I continue to be disappointed but not surprised at how the oil companies keep giving us consumers the same old and illogical reasons for their price gouging for gas.

The latest increase was blamed on a refinery in Washington state shutting down for maintenance but I have yet to see any stations here running out of gas. The oil companies rely on our apathy and short memories when setting gas prices. It was only a short time ago when gas was about $1.50/litre, now over $2/litre.

The price we pay for gas is a totally arbitrary number. I don’t think there is any way to accurately calculate what a litre of gas actually costs to produce but a look at the profits of the oil companies shows how badly we are being overcharged.

As our governments collect tax on gas as a percentage of price, we certainly can’t expect any relief from legislation to protect consumers.

Unfortunately we Canadians are an easy target for consumer abuse as we never get angry about being ripped off for many items, not just gas. Unless we change our passive attitude we will continue to pay excessive prices for many things we buy. However, I am not very optimistic that we will become more demanding for fair pricing any time soon.

K. Beaumont

Duncan