The price of gasoline continued to climb in Montreal to reach $2.15 per liter at several service stations on Sunday, a first in the metropolis according to an expert.
Posted at 12:58 p.m.
Updated at 6:04 p.m.
After crossing the symbolic mark of $2.00 recently, the price of a liter of gasoline, far from decreasing, continued its momentum in southern Quebec. In Montreal, several stations posted prices between $2.05 and $2.15 per litre, depending on what was observed.
At the Esso station, at the corner of Ontario and Papineau streets, in Montreal, several motorists testified to their dismay in the face of this situation.
Barack, a driver for Taxi Champlain, said he prefers to stay parked between calls rather than walking around looking for customers, in order to save gas. “It’s simple, we drive at a loss,” he complains, confident that he no longer fills up his car completely and instead limits himself to spending “just $5” at the gas station.
Jean-Claude Lapalme, a former “snowbird”, also says he is forced to make choices when planning his trips. “We no longer have the pleasure of being able to go where we want,” sighs the man.
Mathieu Bigeon, originally from France, points out that these are normal prices… for Europe. With the exception of a few trips, especially to get to the gym, he says he is now limiting his trips by car.
More records to come
At $2.15 per liter, as several service stations in the metropolis displayed on Sunday, this is a historic high for the price of gasoline in the metropolis, underlines the president of the group Canadians for Affordable Energy, Dan McTeague. However, this record could still be beaten in the coming days, according to him, until it reaches $2.30 per litre.
” That [2,30 $ le litre] that may be the maximum we will reach. But more than $2 is now the new reality to get used to,” says the expert.
In question, a multitude of factors including the severe confinements in China due to the rise in cases of COVID-19 which slows down the economy of the country as well as an increase in demand for fossil fuels in Europe due to the war in Ukraine.
“We are also starting the hurricane season [aux États-Unis] and that always causes a lot of trouble,” he adds.
Dan McTeague suggests to motorists looking for savings to always fill up in the middle of the week, when gas is less expensive, or to go to the suburbs of Montreal where it is possible to save 5 to 6 cents per liter.
The PQ proposes a ceiling of $1.60 per liter
In these circumstances, the Parti Québécois is proposing to temporarily limit the cost at the pump to $1.60 per litre, and that the price difference be borne by oil producers, a measure which would however have the effect of continuing the dependence of Quebecers in oil, according to an expert.
Faced with the rise in the price of gas, which recently crossed the $2 per liter mark, PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon protested that the oil companies were reaping record profits, speaking of “robbery”.
“It is neither normal nor acceptable that 85% of the increase in the price at the pump go directly into the pockets of the oil companies and their refineries. Experts expect a liter of gasoline to exceed $2.20 shortly. There comes a time when you can no longer sit idly by, it takes a contingency plan,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
Professor at HEC and holder of the Chair of management of the energy sector, Pierre-Olivier Pineau, fears, however, that the proposal of the PQ has the long-term effect of less encouraging consumers to get out of oil quickly.
With The Canadian Press