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The end of Canada’s consumer carbon tax could lead to savings at the gas pumps for Saskatchewan motorists, starting on Tuesday.
“I have been told that currently, in Saskatoon, the carbon tax represents 18 cents per litre. Currently, (gas prices) are $1.53 per litre, so tomorrow morning consumers can expect the gas should be dropping to around $1.35 per litre,” said Scott Lucyshyn, owner of Golf’s Car Wash in Saskatoon.
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Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that his Liberal government was getting rid of the consumer side of the carbon pricing scheme, despite the fact the tax was a central policy for his predecessor, Justin Trudeau.
Before the reversal by Carney, Canadians were expecting the carbon price on fuel to rise from roughly 18 to 21 cents per litre on April 1.
The owner of one Saskatoon gas station said drivers can expect to see a drop of about $0.18/L at the pumps, starting on Tuesday. (Shane Clausing/650 CKOM)
Lucyshyn said he thinks the removal of the consumer carbon tax will benefit his business – and Canadians in general – in the long term.
“I think consumers have been waiting a long time for this. The only downside for us is that the gas that we currently have in the ground – and I guess all the oil companies have in the ground – is tax paid already,” Lucyshyn explained.
“Essentially, we’re going to be losing 18 cents on the balance that we have left in the ground. But I think in the long run it will be worthwhile.”
Patrick De Haan, a petroleum analyst with GasBuddy.com, suggested that while there will be a drop in the price of gas coming, it could be short lived.
“This is the time of year that gas prices do generally seasonally rise for reasons including rising demand as temperatures warm up. The transition from cheaper winter gasoline to more expensive summer gasoline has also been occurring over the last few weeks,” De Haan said.
“In addition, refinery maintenance is something that happens this time of year before the start of the increased demand for the summer travel season.”
De Haan said there’s still a lot of uncertainty around tariffs from the United States, which could affect prices. He warned motorists to expect “quite a bit of volatility” starting on April 1.
But regardless of what comes next, Lucyshyn said he thinks the removal of the consumer carbon tax will be a boon to a lot of businesses across Canada.
“It’s impacted the bottom line,” he said.
“We’re paying a tax that we can’t fully recoup from the customers. Essentially, it’s just driven our profit margin down.”
