Ottawa won’t help ease pressure on consumers
Says there’s nothing they can do

Media release

Conception Bay South, NL, May 22, 2008 – Consumers in Canada and in Newfoundland and Labrador will have to face the uphill costs of oil pricing without any help from Ottawa even though they have the means to do it, that’s according to George Murphy of the Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices.

“We’ve long asked the province as well as Ottawa, to help consumers in this province as well as the rest of the country, address the higher costs of energy that includes everything from heating and stove oils, natural gas and transportation fuels and both Ottawa and the province have, as yet to respond outside of the province passing heating rebates. According to some news stories, they have quoted the Prime Minister as saying that ‘Ottawa can do nothing’ to help the consumer and that ‘we can’t go out and spend like drunken sailors’.

“I beg to differ with the Prime Minister on these points as we have suggested several steps over the years that have gone ignored by his office and that of the natural resources minister, Gary Lunn. What we have found out is that the Prime Minister should have said ‘We are not willing to do anything about escalating oil prices and high prices to consumers’.

“Over the years, we have suggested cuts in transportation taxes, the dropping of the GST/HST off all forms of heat, and a system of inventory reporting to make Big Oil accountable for the energy resources it exports and reports in this country. All these calls have gone unanswered by the Prime Minister’s office and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Perhaps the Prime Minister should call a First Minister’s meeting at his behest and prove that he can co-operate with the provinces and try to reach a consensus on dropping some of the taxation components on transportation fuels.

“What should bug consumers in this country is the simple fact that, rather than do nothing, the federal and provincial governments should be seen to be doing something. To me, it shows weak leadership when consumers in this country are looking for help but they can’t get it. Ottawa and the provinces should be working closely together on this issue for consumers but they're not. So much for federal-provincial relations!

“Our tourism and transportation, forestry and fishing sectors are all in trouble with a high dollar and we still have to deal with the governments OPEC dependency; a country such as ours, loaded with oil resources, and we’re still importing from OPEC members. Break the OPEC dependency, for one.

“We’ve suggested everything else from a moratorium on refinery closures, new competition rules that would outlaw the ‘reciprocal sales agreements’ between oil companies and investments in hydro projects like the new Churchill Falls development, but all calls have gone unheeded. While this federal government is in power, it’s going to be harder still to show the rest of Canadians that it can lead on consumer issues. On the energy cost issue and the high price of oil, right now it’s not showing much imagination to guard Canadians from the future. Right now, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is not standing on guard for thee and Canadians should be disappointed with his cavalier attitude on energy pricing issues.”

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For more information, contact;

George Murphy
Group researcher/Member
Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices