Issue of unfair Kamloops gas prices may be elevated to federal competition watchdog: councillor

“Perhaps we should be putting something together because we’re not getting anything from the [BCUC] at this point,” said Karpuk Tuesday. “It seems to be an unbelievably unexplained answer as to why we can have a 25-cent difference on the cost of a litre of gasoline in a community that has all the fuel and we’re shipping it somewhere else. It’s cheaper to ship it somewhere else and sell it somewhere else? It makes no sense.”

Karpuk noted an average Kamloops gas price of $1.789 per litre. He said prices of $1.549 per litre could be found in Vernon.

According to its website, the Competition Bureau of Canada has a mandate to protect Canadian consumers by “ensuring truth in advertising, investigating illegal agreements that hinder competition and preventing abuse of market power,” among other priorities.

“Perhaps my colleague Councillor Sarai and I can put something together as a motion for staff to look at putting forward something to the Competition Bureau of Canada because this is getting ridiculous,” continued Karpuk. “If you leave the city of Kamloops, you pay less. How is that possible when the fuel is coming from here?”

Analyst Patrick De Haan of GasBuddy told CFJC Today earlier this month the reasons behind localized gas price disparities are not always clear.

“There is not always a general rule of thumb of why these pockets of lower and higher prices emerge, but that’s certainly why we would encourage motorists to shop around before they fill their tanks,” said De Haan.

by James Peters

Issue of unfair Kamloops gas prices may be elevated to federal competition watchdog: councillor

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