Re : “Time for open rebellion over fuel costs”.
I find Mr. Delisle’s letter to the editor, Jan. 23, 2014, rather interesting in the sense how he compares American fuel prices with Canada’s on price alone.
There are many pertinent reasons why the U.S. price is lower: crude oil is priced in U.S. dollars and when you pay in Canadian, you pay 10 per cent more—bank arbitrage (2.5 per cent) on top if you use a Canadian credit card or convert Canadian dollars to U.S. when buying fuel in the U.S.
Cold winters in Canada require more heating oil—thus distillate (diesel) prices rise on demand. If you use propane, the price has jumped almost 30 per cent in the last few weeks, again because of demand.
High provincial and federal taxes on our fuel (which the Americans do not have), which pays for more expensive road construction due to a colder climate /winter maintenance (remember
Atlanta Georgia last week with a two-inch snowfall; total chaos as no there are snowplows down there); social services etc. which for the most part, Americans go without along with much less regulation and insurance.
There are fewer refineries in Canada, thus less competition; higher transportation costs to smaller centres and remote areas; and yes, the oil companies (and everyone in business) must be profitable, the central theme of the capitalist way, or you go “belly-up”.
As to Mr. Delisle advocating “open rebellion”, what exactly do you mean or are you just blathering?
Everybody in the world is in love with their car, and no time soon will you see global demand or prices dropping, especially as “new oil” is much more expensive to develop.
George Dore,
Westbridge