Don Davies, the New Democrat candidate for Vancouver Kingsway, says Jack Layton will provide real gas price relief for consumers while Conservatives break promises and protect big oil companies.
"The spike in oil and gas prices has an enormous impact on people's lives, from travel to work and daycare, to heating their homes. Conservatives stand up for oil and gas companies. It's time to stand up for Canadians," said Davies.
While the price of oil fell on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday gasoline prices in Vancouver shot up as high as $1.44 per litre this morning after starting the week at $1.36. (vancouvergasprices.com, MJ Ervin)
New Democrats will institute tough monitoring and the regulation of fuel prices. Big oil shouldn't have a free license to gouge consumers. Jack Layton will start with a price monitoring agency, with regulations based on consultations with the provinces and stakeholders.
"Everyday Canadians are paying millions of dollars every year due to price-gouging and hidden fees of all sorts," said Layton.
Before he was elected Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised Canadian gas relief but once elected he backtracked declaring, "This is something we're all going to have to adapt to" (Stephen Harper, CTV.ca, April 19, 2006) and "We became convinced that, quite frankly, there was a limited amount we could do in terms of helping consumers specifically with gas prices," (Stephen Harper, CTV.ca, May 17, 2007)
