Good morning! Wendy Cox in Vancouver here.
This past spring, as gas prices in Vancouver soared to $1.70 a litre B.C. Premier John Horgan concluded his government had to do something.
The NDP came to power on a promise of making life more affordable for British Columbians. The dubious distinction of having the highest gas prices on the continent doesn’t fit the theme.
The situation was made more uncomfortable for Mr. Horgan’s government by the schadenfreude coming from next door in Alberta, where Premier Jason Kenney blamed the B.C. NDP for the predicament and maintained the extra capacity of the stalled Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion would alleviate the problem. (It probably wouldn’t, B.C. legislature reporter Justine Hunter reported.)
So Mr. Horgan asked the B.C. Utilities Commission to look at the issue. In making his request to the BCUC, Mr. Horgan pointed to federal policies and to “gouging” oil companies. His request for an inquiry specifically asked the commission to look at a range of issues, including diminishing supply and possible price fixing.
The mandate pointedly excluded a look at B.C.'s taxation policies. “Provincial taxes are not to blame. ... Cutting taxes would amount to the public subsidizing oil companies as there is nothing to stop companies raising prices in response,” Mr. Horgan said.
Justine’s work this spring examined some of the reasons why prices might be so high, including a squeezed supply in the Lower Mainland, taxes, standards requiring lower-carbon fuel and seasonal driving causing spikes in demand.
On Friday, the BCUC delivered its report into the problem. It didn’t clear much up.
The report found that British Columbians are paying about 20 cents more in Metro Vancouver than elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest, a gap that started growing after 2015. The BCUC report found explanations for seven cents of it, including higher crude prices, Trans Mountain Pipeline capacity constraints, higher costs for retailers and market volatility.
But 13 cents spent on every litre couldn’t be explained. The commission report did not find evidence of collusion among retail operators or cartel behaviour.
B.C.'s taxes, which account for 34 cents for every litre of gasoline, also don’t account for the mystery of the 13 cents, the BCUC explained. The taxes are transparent and knowable.
So despite the inquiry, the question of why prices are so much higher remains. BCUC CEO David Morton said Friday more regulation in the market could be a solution to reduce price volatility, but more work would have to be done to examine how that might work
Without a clear answer, B.C.'s minister on the file resorted to the same refrain from May:
"Today’s report from the utilities commission shows that there’s significant evidence to support people’s view that price gouging exists in the market,” Jobs Minister Bruce Ralston said.
This is the weekly Western Canada newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox and Alberta Bureau Chief James Keller. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here. This is a new project and we’ll be experimenting as we go, so let us know what you think.
Around the West
CARSON CRIMENI: More than 600 people filled a church in Langley, B.C., this week to remember Carson Crimeni, whose life was cut short by a drug overdose that was caught on camera and shared on social media. During the emotional ceremony, he was remembered as a kind-eyed, goofy boy whose death has left a deep hole in his community and family. Carson’s father Aron Crimeni, delivered a painful eulogy that addressed his son directly: “Thanks for being my best friend, my closest friend.”
CARBON TAX: The Supreme Court of Canada legal challenge of the federal carbon tax just doubled in size, after Ontario filed its expected appeal. A hearing is set for January, after courts in Ontario and Saskatchewan ruled that the federal carbon-pricing system is constitutional. Alberta has a similar case, which was an election promise from Premier Jason Kenney. However, experts say it’s looking increasingly unlikely that Alberta’s case will move quick enough to be added to the Supreme Court hearing.
CHINESE MEDIA: An on-air columnist at Vancouver’s most-listened-to Chinese radio station has resigned after comments critical of pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong drew outrage from the diaspora in B.C. Thomas Leung used an opinion piece on Fairchild Radio to suggest demonstrators were partly responsible for a violent incident last month.
COLUMBIA RIVER: The Columbia River Treaty has been governing what happens on the river that flows from B.C. into the United States for the past 55 years. The original 1964 agreement was designed largely for power generation and flood control, which is achieved through a series of dams and reservoirs on both sides of the border. Now, Canada and the United States are preparing to modernize the treaty. Justine Hunter looks at the agreement, what it means for the region and what might replace it.
CLIMATE CHANGE: Groups of teens in B.C. and Calgary have been staging rallies calling for action on climate change, drawing inspiration from Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. Mike Hager visited a group in Abbotsford, where one young activist, Lauren Palmer, told him: “We want to show government and businesses that kids do care about this and that this is something that’s important and really matters.”
HOMELESS VETS: A new housing project in Calgary is designed to put a small dent in the problem of homeless veterans. Homes for Heroes is getting set to open a new $5-million development featuring 20 small homes, all earmarked for veterans. Organizers believe it is the first project in Canada to combine transitional housing with built-in social support, and they have more projects planned in Edmonton, Ontario and Winnipeg. The charity estimates 3,500 veterans are living on the streets in Canada. Of those, about 180 are in Calgary.
HOUSING: The senior economist at Royal Bank of Canada, is declaring the correction in Canada’s housing market over, after national statistics showed a fifth month of rising sales.
FOOD: Vancouver’s House of Dosas has long been the go-to spot for dosas – thin, golden crêpes made from a fermented rice-and-lentil batter. But a feud led disgruntled staff members to open a rival called Dosa Factory just a few doors down. Alexandra Gill looked into the dispute – and more important, how they compared. In Edmonton, Dan Clapson gives 2.5 stars to Filistix, the bricks-and-mortar incarnation of a popular Filipino food truck.
Opinion
Gary Mason on ride-hailing in B.C.: “But eventually, it seems likely that taxis will have to be able to operate under one free market with no restrictions if they are going to have any hope of facing the competitive threat posed by Uber and Lyft.”
Donald MacPherson on legal drugs: “Public health leaders in Canada realize that moving toward a legally regulated supply of drugs to replace the toxic and deadly criminally controlled supply, with all its negative impacts on public safety, is in the best interests of the public health and safety goals of Canadians.”
Adrienne Tanner on transit in the Lower Mainland: “Big-ticket transit projects, like trains and SeaBuses, are big hits with the public – you might recall the lineups of riders keen to try out the Canada Line on opening day in 2010. It’s understandable that federal and provincial politicians, who always have their eye on the next election, like nothing better than to announce an attention-grabbing new train line.”