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1943 to 1945 Italian Campaign
Powell River Remembers
Remembrance Day Ceremony Dwight Hall in Townsite Monday, November 11, 10 am
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• november 2019 • prliving.ca
asked for a review. That can take months. Similarly, when I asked Parkland (which owns the local Chevron) about gas pricing here, the corporate media rep wrote, “While the Competition Bureau prevents us from discussing the specifics of pricing, I can assure you that we always strive to offer competitive gasoline and diesel prices in all markets where we operate.” The Competition Bureau? That sounded spurious, so I contacted the Bureau directly and asked it this was true - that gas station companies can’t discuss gas pricing due to Canadian law. “Generally speaking,” wrote Senior Communications Advisor Marcus Callahan, “it is considered good corporate practice for companies not to discuss or share pricing or pricing policies with their competitors. However, the Bureau’s guidance does not specifically address what information a company may or may not disclose to a journalist.” So, Parkland could have told me, but didn’t. Marcus helpfully went on: “Since 2008, as a result of Bureau investigations, 33 individuals and 12 companies have pleaded or been found guilty of fixing the price of gas in several markets in Ontario and Quebec, with fines totalling more than $6 million. “Cracking down on anticompetitive conduct in the gasoline sector is a priority for the Bureau. Should the Bureau find evidence of anticompetitive conduct in the retail gasoline sector, it will take action. “We encourage anyone with evidence of price-fixing or other anticompetitive activity in the retail gasoline sector to contact the Bureau at 1-800-348-5358 or by using our online complaint form.” Dozens of interactions like these happened throughout the month. Meanwhile, PRL publisher Isabelle Southcott was in Nova Scotia, sending photographs of gas stations signs there; Esso’s, above, is a scintillating $1.14.5 per liter. The BCUC (see sidebar, Page 23) closed its call for submisisons in October. In all of this information-gathering, what I find most compelling are two current government interventions into gas pricing in Canada. First, on the Powell River Fuel Price Protest Facebook page, local Lieland Siemens wrote, “This article is absolute crap btw...” referring to my September article, Guzzled. “I live in Powell River but I work near Churchill, Manitoba and the price is over two bucks a litre here.. and has been for a loooong time. Powell River is just full of entitled whiners....” It turns out, whining works. At least in Churchill. Residents there used to pay about $1.70 per litre, but the tracks that carry the fuel trains broke in 2017, and now the community’s gas is shipped in via Hudson’s Bay and the newly-repaired rail line. Indeed, consumers were paying $2.22, but after a dramatic community meeting with Arctic Gateway - the com-
A GREAT PRICE, BUT A LONG DRIVE TO GET IT: Gas in Truro, Nova Scotia mid-October. Photo by Isabelle Southcott pany that controls the port and rail line - the price was reduced to $1.82 a litre. Churchill also benefits from a $132,870 federal gas subsidy, from Natural Resources Canada. Why? At what price-per-litre will the feds step in with a subsidy? Should we whine more? And to whom? Additionally, in last month’s issue, I discovered that regular unleaded in Iqaluit is just $1.25 a litre – this is gas that has to travel through the Arctic – surely a gargantuanly more expensive process than simply barging it to Powell River up the Salish Sea. The answer is, the government of Nunavut has owned its own gas distribution system, the Petroleum Products Division, since 1972. “PPD operates under the Revolving Fund Act. The Act sets up the mechanism to purchase, transport, store, distribute, sell and supply refined petroleum products to the residents of Nunavut communities in a safe, economical, efficient and reliable way,” reads the website. “Through this fund, the PPD’s expenses are offset by revenues from the sale of petroleum products.” Should BC set up a similar provinceowned gas distribution company? We pay the highest prices in Canada. Perhaps a government-owned gas network would become a double-benefit: reducing pump prices, and using profits to inject more cash into building alternative transportation infrastructure: a rural bus or train system to replace Greyhound; a residentfriendly pricing system on BC Ferries, or others. Finally, I looked into profit at local gas stations. Off the record, owners say they are not making much profit selling gas, that the few cents per litre they charge gets absorbed into paying for staff and other business costs. I called Canada’s most-recognized gas think tank, The Kent Group, out of London, Ontario, to find out what they thought about that claim. Surprisingly, they backed it up. Managing director Jason Parent said, because this is a small market with “low through-puts” (small amounts of gas sold), local stations need to charge slightly more to just recover their costs.
