TORONTO — Thunder Bay–Superior North MPP Lise Vaugeois is renewing an NPD call for the Ford government to put a stop to what the party calls gas price gouging.
She voiced her concern in question period on Thursday over higher gas prices in Northern Ontario.
“Gas prices remain far higher in Northern Ontario than in the South,” Vaugeois said. “In the Northwest, the average cost of gas was 30 cents more per litre than in the Greater Toronto Area. Even in the North, the price can range drastically from town to town for no discernible reason.”
The MPP wants the Conservative government to regulate gas prices, taking a shot at Northern Development Minister and Kenora MPP Greg Rickford.
"Oil and gas companies, who continue to rack up huge profits, are gouging people in the North,” she said. “Just ask the minister of northern development, who said last week, ‘I can’t explain the price variations in the North… it’s a bit of a Wild West phenomenon.’"
Gas stations on Fort William First Nation featured the lowest gas prices in Ontario earlier this month, but prices in the Thunder Bay area have since started climbing.
While the Thunder Bay area had some of the best deals, other parts of the region have been among those with the highest prices in the province.
As of Friday morning, the ontariogasprices.com website showed two gas stations in Fort Frances above $1.80 per litre, while stations in Wawa, Kenora, and Ignace were at $1.799 per litre.
In 2018, Rickford called on the Competition Bureau of Canada for a review of gasoline and diesel pricing practices in the region. The agency said it found no evidence of collusion.
