Gasoline Prices

[Hedley]

Bought some gas in Eastern Ontario today at 113.5 per liter to drive down to Ogdensburg, NY. When I buy stuff in the USA, I have them ship UPS to the UPS store there, then I drive down and pick it up. It's easy for the US company - it looks like a domestic shipment to them - and I avoid paying the horrendous UPS brokerage fees in Canada.

While I'm in Ogdensburg, I drive by a gas station, advertising $3.33 per US gallon.

Now, the US and Canadian dollar are pretty much wash right now. So in Ogdensburg, you can buy gasoline for 3.33 / 3.78 = 88 cents per litre.

Hold on a sec. I just bought gas in canada for 113.5 per litre, which is 25.5 cents or nearly 30% more expensive.

I just googled, and learned that 41 billion litres of gas are purchased every year, in Canada. Given the 25.5 cent "I am Canadian" premium, that's TEN BILLION dollars that's quietly getting sucked out of the Canadian consumer's wallet. TEN BILLION.

And no one cares. High prices in Canada are meekly accepted by the consumer. Do you have a cell phone in Canada? Well, you're getting similarly screwed, vs prices for a cell phone in the USA. A guy with my old company was doing some data testing with bluetooth tethering with a company phone, but he forgot to get a data plan. The bill at the end of the month? SIXTEEN THOUSAND dollars, which the company meekly paid.

Does anyone in Canada ever get tired of being screwed? Do you enjoy it? Why does no one ever complain about our incredibly unreasonable prices? I can't possibly be the only person in Canada to ever travel outside the country.

[Meecka]

Hedley... we DO complain, the problem is... Noone in our Government gives a f@#%. We can howl and scream that we are being raped at the pumps/ on our cell phone bills ect... But until sombody in the Big House on the Hill grows a set and decides to back the voting public instead of the big corporations, not a damed thing will change. I would suggest you get yourself some ice packs for the swelling... like the rest of us have.

[Cat Driver]

Just doing a bit of figuring here.

If I drive my new motorhome to Ontario on Canadian highways to visit Hedley it is only going to cost around $2,500.00 for gas.

[Shiny Side Up]

Does anyone in Canada ever get tired of being screwed? Do you enjoy it? Why does no one ever complain about our incredibly unreasonable prices?

And here I thought you were a good capitalist.

Either way, what's even more bizarre I find is how brainwashed most Albertans are. They look at those high gasoline prices, smile and tell themselves that means that they're staying employed. Some have this notion that its going to trickle down to them. Maybe a little bit does, but it certainly ain't to the tune of even a small fraction of that 10 billion.

Someone had the nerve to tell me high gas prices were good for the enviornment, since it makes people drive less. It certainly hasn't put a stop to Single-guy-in-SUV syndrome around here. It does hurt the little guy though, buddy who has to commute in his little piss-pot. A guy who has an expensive vehicle and can afford to pay $100 a tank already ain't deterred by another $20 a tank.

Adding insult to injury I got an e-mail just before Christmas from our avgas supplier that 1) wished us merry Christmas and 2) informed us the price of avgas was going up 0.16 a litre. Merry Christmas indeed.

[JakeYYZ]

Bought some gas in Eastern Ontario today at 113.5 per liter to drive down to Ogdensburg, NY. When I buy stuff in the USA, I have them ship UPS to the UPS store there, then I drive down and pick it up. It's easy for the US company - it looks like a domestic shipment to them - and I avoid paying the horrendous UPS brokerage fees in Canada.

While I'm in Ogdensburg, I drive by a gas station, advertising $3.33 per US gallon.

Now, the US and Canadian dollar are pretty much wash right now. So in Ogdensburg, you can buy gasoline for 3.33 / 3.78 = 88 cents per litre.

Hold on a sec. I just bought gas in canada for 113.5 per litre, which is 25.5 cents or nearly 30% more expensive.

I just googled, and learned that 41 billion litres of gas are purchased every year, in Canada. Given the 25.5 cent "I am Canadian" premium, that's TEN BILLION dollars that's quietly getting sucked out of the Canadian consumer's wallet. TEN BILLION.

And no one cares. High prices in Canada are meekly accepted by the consumer. Do you have a cell phone in Canada? Well, you're getting similarly screwed, vs prices for a cell phone in the USA. A guy with my old company was doing some data testing with bluetooth tethering with a company phone, but he forgot to get a data plan. The bill at the end of the month? SIXTEEN THOUSAND dollars, which the company meekly paid.

Does anyone in Canada ever get tired of being screwed? Do you enjoy it? Why does no one ever complain about our incredibly unreasonable prices? I can't possibly be the only person in Canada to ever travel outside the country.

You’ve been counted, thought criminal #46376.
Write down this number and report to your Kommissar at the nearest railroad station.
Don't forget warm clothes......... and a shovel!

[Cat Driver]

The price of gas is one thing, how many of you here know how dysfunctional Canada's health care system really is?

The last year has really opened my eyes to the joys of socialism.

[TG]

Population, Canada: 33,739,900 - 2009
Population, USA: 307,006,550 - Jul 2009

If we go up to 300,000,000 in Canada, could all prices go lower !?
You know supply and demand, this kind of things but I'm not good at it.

Also I suspect we will still be scr@wed by taxes

[cdnpilot77]

Population, Canada: 33,739,900 - 2009
Population, USA: 307,006,550 - Jul 2009

If we go up to 300,000,000 in Canada, could all prices go lower !?
You know supply and demand, this kind of things but I'm not good at it.

Also I suspect we will still be scr@wed by taxes

We ran into this all the time when I was selling Audi's and the dollar first started getting close to par. We had some cars (A8) where the starting price was over $20,000 more in Canada than in the US. Even an A4 was $8-9k more to start. The main problem is "buying power" 300mil vs. 30mil people. The second issue as stated is taxes, ours are drastically higher, obviously. Have a read on the pump of all the taxes we pay on gas and I am willing to bet that it is significantly north of the 25 cents per litre difference.

[iflyforpie]

Hey, we could be in Europe.



£5.50/gal is $2.28/L.

But you know, the way I figure it all balances out. If we have to spend more for gas, we either drive less or chose to spend less money on other things, which drives the price of those other things down. I remember worrying when the prices started to rise in the early 2000s to like $0.73/L but I still managed to make it somehow.

Besides, quite a bit of my income is derived from oil-intoxicated Albertans who can't see past their next truck payment...

[flyinggreasemonkey]

The guys at the bruce power plant in ontario just absolutely must have a big pickup or they're shunned by the rest of the company. It's nothing more than a status symbol. I know of at least one guy there who drive 75km one way to work and he has an F350 diesel with an 8" lift kit and big off road tires just because he can. I've also seen an F650 behemoth with a license plate BCUZICAN. It's people like this that keep the pockets of the terrorist harbouring OPECers nice and full and the taxes for the rest of us nice and high.

[v6g]

Little known fact: The price of the underlying gas is actually cheaper in Canada because of the taxes.

[cdnpilot77]

Little known fact: The price of the underlying gas is actually cheaper in Canada because of the taxes.

My point above exactly

[bandaid]

And probably the biggest reason is, the politicians don't pay for there own gas, we do.

[Beefitarian]

Actually flyinggreasemonkey should be thanking everyone buying lots of gas or diesel in Canada because that tax revenue might have to come from him if they wern't.

[flyinggreasemonkey]

Yeah he should be thanked for helping pay for Harper's fake fucking lake.

[Doc]

Why is diesel not more popular in Canada? I was down in New Zealand recently, driving a borrowed BMW 123d. Great car. Not in Canada, you say?
The "Nazi" state of Manitoba screws motorcyclists with insane insurance rates. Try 3000$ or more. I guess bikes don't burn enough gas?
Welcome to the Canadian Sheep Farm....

[Rowdy]

why ON EARTH... would a bright government official do anything to help lower gas prices??? you do know that the tax is a PERCENTAGE of the actual cost of the fuel? so the more it costs, the more money they see as tax revenue.

I can see 1.50/l coming soon to the wet coast.. I mean we already pay an additional 9c a liter thanks to the GVRD...

[bandaid]

why ON EARTH... would a bright government official do anything to help lower gas prices??? you do know that the tax is a PERCENTAGE of the actual cost of the fuel? so the more it costs, the more money they see as tax revenue.

I can see 1.50/l coming soon to the wet coast.. I mean we already pay an additional 9c a liter thanks to the GVRD...

Ah yes, The Greatest Place on Earth and the lovely sunshine tax we pay. BC= Bring Cash.

[Brewguy]

Gas is still cheaper than bottled water.

Sitting in a waiting room at the hospital a couple of weeks ago, I was amazed by the number of people who walked right past a water fountain and deposited their $2 in the vending machine for a 500ml bottle of Dasani (Coke's brand of bottled water). Yeah, that's right ... $4 a litre for what is essentially someone's municipal tap water, shoved in a bottle. And people were paying it.

Just how high do you think the price of gas will have to get before the masses get pissed enough about it to actually make the politicians listen......?

I'm not holding my breath.

[flyinggreasemonkey]

Yes but you can literally get 1000 litres of water out of the tap for the same price as a litre of gas. Bottled water is a waste of money.

[iflyforpie]

Evian is naive spelled backwards...

[bizjets101]

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petr ... mport.html

As Canada is the largest exporter of oil to the USA, there is a good chance the gas you purchase
in the USA originated in Canada.

When I lived in Newport Beach California, I could buy a half gallon of Bacardi Rum for $9.99 at my local grocery store, it had a stamp on the bottle - Made in Bramalea Ontario!!

[. ._]

I'm gonna keep voting for Liberals and Conservatives and just pray something will change.

[Meecka]

Welcome to the Canadian Sheep Farm....

BAAAAAAHHHHH!!!

[cdnpilot77]

Gas is still cheaper than bottled water.

Sitting in a waiting room at the hospital a couple of weeks ago, I was amazed by the number of people who walked right past a water fountain and deposited their $2 in the vending machine for a 500ml bottle of Dasani (Coke's brand of bottled water). Yeah, that's right ... $4 a litre for what is essentially someone's municipal tap water, shoved in a bottle. And people were paying it.

Just how high do you think the price of gas will have to get before the masses get pissed enough about it to actually make the politicians listen......?

I'm not holding my breath.

If you drink the bottle of water in the hotel room at Caesars Casino in Windsor they un-ceremoniously add $8.00 to your bill for 1L.