Ontarians can expect a crushing blow to their wallets this week as gas prices are predicted to jump by 10 cents in the following days.
According to experts, this is the biggest single overnight gas spike the province has seen in years.
Drivers can expect to pay up to 163 cents per litre by the end of the week compared to the current price of 152.9.
“You don’t see that very often,” said analyst and Canadians for Affordable Energy president Dan McTeague. “Normally you see 10 to 15 cents a litre over a two-day period but never in one big fell swoop.”
Things are much worse on the west coast. Vancouver, British Columbia posted the highest gas prices in North America last week.
Some gas stations reported a price of 242 cents per litre after a sudden 40 cent jump to prices in the Metro Vancouver area.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a wider gamut of price behaviours coast-to-coast in my career,” said GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan.
“A slew of unexpected refinery disruptions, including fires and routine maintenance, have seemingly all happened in a short span of time, causing wholesale gas prices to spike in areas of the West Coast, Great Lakes and Prairies, and some of those areas could see prices spike another 10 to 20 cents per litre or more until issues are worked out.”
The Conservatives have called on the Liberal government to immediately alleviate the cost of living crisis by raising taxes for Canadians.
Yesterday a Conservative motion to scrap all new federal tax hikes failed after being shut down by Liberal and NDP MPs.
“With 40-year high inflation, the last thing Canadians need is new tax hikes on their paycheques, gas, groceries, and home heating,” Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre tweeted on Monday.
Last week the Liberal government passed an increase to the carbon tax with the help of the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois.
