It hasn’t necessarily been smooth sailing for David Eby since he called a snap election, but his latest campaign promise to B.C. voters on gas prices may raise some eyebrows.
In an announcement from the BC NDP on Thursday morning, it was revealed that Eby plans to suspend a portion of the provincial gas tax “to provide immediate relief.”
Gas prices have been fluctuating wildly in B.C. over the past week. In September, gas prices jumped by 10 cents due to a federal tax.
Since then, gas prices have been up and down, according to GasBuddy’s historical charts.
GasBuddy
Eby says his promised cut would save drivers as much as $20 on every tank of gas.
“Big oil and gas companies have been exploiting conflicts overseas to make record profits, leaving ordinary drivers and truckers paying the price every time they fill up,” Eby said in a release.
“We will protect working families from price gouging during this uncertain time. Our plan to lower gas prices puts up to $100 back in your budget every single month for a typical two-car family in Surrey.”
The release from the BC NDP also says that the party has a “two-part plan” to reduce gas prices for drivers and to crack down on gouging, which includes a price guard that would regulate gas and diesel prices. The BC NDP says it would empower the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) to set maximum prices that retailers in B.C. can charge consumers.
The other part of the plan would require suspending motor fuel taxes by 10 cents per litre on both gasoline and diesel. The BC NDP says that the changes would mean savings for truckers, “with a local or short-distance regional truck saving up to $116 per fill-up” and long-haul truckers saving up to $240.
In the release, Eby again brought U.S. President Donald Trump into the conversation, something that some have criticized him for.
A statement from the BC NDP states that Trump “did not just start a trade war with Canada; he also launched the war in Iran that caused global oil prices to spike.”
The NDP states that this move has cost British Columbians around $865 million in added fuel costs, “while the four largest Canadian oil companies doubled their quarterly profits to a staggering $13.3 billion,” which happens to be close to B.C.’s total deficit amount of $13.8 billion.