We Canadians really are something else. We’re nearing the end of an election campaign, the cost of living is up like a rocket, yet barely a murmur is heard from the electorate.
In the U.S., complaints have forced Obama to start speaking publicly about the insanity of gasoline prices. His government has ordered an investigation of energy markets. They’re looking for evidence of manipulation, fraud and collusion. Shouldn't have to look very hard.
In Canada, pretty much silence. Of course, our governments gain every time gas prices go up. They take a percentage, through taxes, of every price increase. Taxes account for 30 to 40 per cent of the price of a litre of gas, depending on where you live.
The harsh effects of gas price gouging by industry and government are starting to show. Consumer prices rose 2.2 per cent in February, 3.3 per cent in March. Higher gas costs now are seen in almost all consumer purchases.
Some cost increases reported in March: food 3.7 per cent, water 6.3, electricity 4.3, home and mortgage insurance 4.9, postal services 8, car insurance premiums 4.7, parking fees 8.2, taxis 3.9, air transportation 12.2, non-prescribed medicines 5.8, cable and satellite services 7.1, tuition fees 3.8 per cent. |
| Up, Up and Away! |
All this is happening because Libya, which supplies about two per cent of the oil market, is in civil war. Before that it was a well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. When Libya cools, another reason will be invented and hyped.
North America without question holds the world’s largest energy supplies. Saudi Arabia might be seen as the world's major oil producer, but all energy considered, nothing comes close to North America. So why is this happening?
Some day Canadians will tire of being scammed and screwed, and demand a fair and transparent system for how governments and industries take their money.
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