B.C. NDP leader David Eby says a re-elected NDP government would temporarily suspend the provincial fuel tax and give the Utilities Commission powers to cap retail oil prices.
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B.C. NDP leader David Eby says his re-elected government would help families save up to $20 at the pump each time they fill up by temporarily suspending the provincial fuel tax by 10 cents per litre for gas and diesel and by introducing a “price guard” that would allow the BC Utilities Commission to set a cap for retail oil prices.
Eby said the changes are aimed at curbing profits taken by refining companies, arguing that “from the start of the Iran war until now, there has been a 20-cent increase in the profit taken by refining companies with absolutely no change,” while the government would use the commission to stop what he described as gas “gouging” at pumps.
Eby said the measures would help a two-car family save around $100 each month.
On Thursday, B.C. Conservatives interim leader Lorne Doerkson backed the federal government’s Pacific Link Pipeline, saying “we welcome it, because the world desperately needs Canadian energy,” and adding that B.C.’s economy “desperately needs a boost.”
Doerkson also criticized Eby’s gas cut promise, calling it a “pipe dream” and saying “British Columbians do not trust him.”
The B.C. Greens also announced plans related to farmland and food production on Vancouver Island, including restricting foreign and corporate ownership of farmland, funding an agricultural land bank to connect farmers with affordable farmland, and giving local governments the power to tax unused farmland so that land is used to produce food.
Both the Greens and the NDP introduced new candidates for the upcoming election, and the nomination period ends Oct. 3.
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