Taxpayer advocate launches petition to pressure B.C. politicians to lower gas prices
Posted April 30, 2019 11:27 am.
Last Updated April 30, 2019 11:30 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – If you’d like to see politicians roll back taxes at the gas pump, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) wants to hear from you. The watchdog group has launched a petition.
B.C. Director Kris Sims its about pressuring politicians in Victoria to follow through on promises to bring gas prices down and increase fuel supply for the region.
Sims points out provincial politicians say they sympathize with drivers. “[But] they helped cause these gas prices to be this high — both by restricting supply by opposing the expansion of pipelines and by constantly jacking up taxes on gasoline. So, we’re trying to help them help us.”
“Axe the carbon tax, which is about 9.8 cents per litre with GST here in B.C. We’re also asking them to take a hard look at the TransLink tax because it is set to go up to 18.5 cents per litre very soon,” Sims
She says the CTF petition is a way for taxpayers to have a say about that.
“They need to speak up. They really do. And to compare apples to apples. Folks in Seattle — a beautiful, Pacific Northwest jewel of a city — they’re paying 50 cents less per litre than we are in Vancouver.”
Sims says that works out to the equivalent of $35 less per fill-up for the average family minivan.
The CTF plans to take the petition’s signatures to both the premier and opposition.
