Jul 21
Cheap Gas … Not on your life!
So the Saturday Morning paper arrived and it wasn’t long before I delved into the business section reading through the excellent article on Electric Cars. After reading half the article, my attention was quickly drawn to the article “Costco decries 3-cent Solution By Quebec”
Apparently the Quebec Government just raised the price of a liter of Gas 3 cents a liter in the
I also noticed that out of the three “True” Consumer Advocate groups that were interviewed only one supported the free market position while the “Union des Consommateurs” and the APA (Automobile Protection Agency) supported the position taken by the Government.
Wow! We all know that if the Government doesn’t intervene then Costco will put all these folks out of business. And is it just a matter of time before the only Gas Station in town then starts “gouging” us. Or is it true?
Will Shell, Imperial Oil, and some of the Big boys be able to survive? Will it only be a couple of independents that go?
If 10 years ago, when Costco and some of the “big box” stores came to all our cities , towns and villages across Canada, did the Government get involved and raise the price of clothes, school supplies and other items all considered less expensive. Did The Quebec Government help out local merchants or Woolco or others that couldn’t compete?
What is one to think! With the price of Gas selling at $1.50 a liter, maybe the independents need to change the way they do business. Maybe they need to focus on Repairs, Parts and other services that the Car Dealers are “gouging” us with.
Overall, I don’t think Canadians are afraid of Competition. We lived through NAFTA. Many industries changed and prospered. The consumer came out ahead. Our Governments should not be involved, unless of course the “Big Boys” all get together and price “gouge” like they are doing with Automobiles, Cell Phone services and Banking.
Maybe it is time our Governments started governing for the people!
