The majority of Canadians have seen gas prices on the rise in their area, according to a recent Angus Reid poll, and one-third say those rising costs are making it difficult for them to keep up with expenses.
In Saskatchewan, that number jumps to nearly 60 per cent admitting that the increase has left them struggling to afford the necessities, especially those respondents in rural areas.
The overwhelming majority of Canadians drive a vehicle several times a week, if not every day, meaning that the increase in cost is affecting the way that many people behave. About one-third of drivers have reduced how much driving they do; a quarter of people have stopped filling their gas tank as often.
A few drivers have even begun traveling to another town or city for gas that is lower-priced, some even to the United States.
Predictably so, the two factors that Canadians are blaming for the cost of gas are the government’s taxes and the corporate interests of oil companies.
For the most part, the majority of British Columbia and Quebec respondents placed the blame on oil companies seeking to maximize their profit. The majority of respondents in Ontario and the prairie provinces — Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta — feel that government taxes like the transport tax and the carbon tax are to blame.
The issue has once again raised questions about whether an expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline would lower gas costs in B.C. Residents of the province are unsure, with only 45 oer cent agreeing and 30 per cent disagreeing.
Quebec and the Atlantic provinces already have legislation that allows a maximum price cap on gas prices; 70 per cent of B.C respondents indicated they would support their government doing the same.
