'Very painful' gas price hikes to hit southern Ontario this week, expert warns
CBC
Gas prices are expected to jump in southern Ontario this week in part due to Russian attacks on Ukraine, an expert said on Tuesday.
Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, said gas prices will go up by two cents a litre on Wednesday to just under $1.61 cents a litre.
That increase will be followed by a rise of seven cents a litre rise on Thursday, which means gas prices will be about $1.67 cents a litre. That means gas is increasing by nine cents a litre in one week, he noted.
"Unfortunately for motorists, it's going to be a very painful couple of days, and it's likely to get worse tomorrow in the GTA, Hamilton area as well, pretty much throughout all of southern Ontario," McTeague said.
"If you happen to be by a gas station now between now and midnight, it's obviously a good idea to fill up."
McTeague said gas prices are "marching" toward $1.75 a litre.
Compounding the problem is global tightness in supply, a problem that existed before Russian aggression in Ukraine, he said.
He said it's important to remember that the price of gas was about $1.21 a litre a year ago and about $1.15 a litre in 2020. Prices are "highly inflationary," and may not be something many people can afford, he added.
McTeague said people who don't drive may not be concerned by these increases but the price of diesel, which is used to fuel public transit buses, will go up by 5.5 cents a litre on Tuesday, then by another eight cents a litre on Thursday.
He raised the spectre of across-the-board inflation driven by rising fuel costs.
"Diesel is important because it's the stuff that farmers use, that transportation uses, airlines, rail, so you can see where these factors are going to start to hit consumers in ways they possibly haven't even bothered to consider imagining."
Adding to the problem is the weakness of the Canadian dollar in the face of higher energy oil prices, which is adding to the cost of fuel, he said.
There's stiff competition among prospective home buyers in the St. John's region because the number of listings are unusually low and demand is surging.
Strong attendance and record sponsorship at the Northern Ontario Tourism Summit in North Bay is a good sign the industry is recovering from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, says Destination Northern Ontario.
A group of Halifax residents is asking the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to look at a provincial decision to greenlight a controversial Fall River development.
Parkside Drive is closed in both directions following reports of a sinkhole, Toronto police say.
The Quebec government will present its fall economic update today.
Aggressive patients and lack of security are making nurses feel unsafe in a rural Western Manitoba emergency union, says the Manitoba Nurses Union.
Saskatoon resident Delynne Bortis knew her commute to work Tuesday morning would be particularly difficult.
WARNING: This story contains details of abuse and intimate partner violence:
The amount of money it takes for people to earn a living wage has increased across the province, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The new owner of Ontario steelmaker Stelco says his company "will not disappoint the people of Hamilton and Nanticoke," where the business's major facilities are based.
A Winnipegger is warning others about an intricate scam she says she almost fell for.