The reduction in the consumer carbon tax to zero came into effect on April 1st. This was expected to increase by more than 20 cents per liter. Fuel charging was added over 17 cents to a litre of gasoline in some states.
On April 1, price tracking website Gasbuddy had a national average of $1.52 per liter, a drop of 3.1 cents and a litre of gasoline of $1.52 per liter, in the morning.
“I’m not a career politician, I’m a pragmatist, so when I see something that doesn’t make sense, something that doesn’t work, I change it,” he said. “On my first day as Prime Minister, I ended the Consumer Carbon Tax. Today, that change will take effect.”
Gas Wizard, an online tool for predicting gas prices, offers a breakdown of normal fuel prices in various cities. With more than 30 years of recorded data, Gas Wizard was founded by Dan McTeague, a former liberal MP and executive director of Canadian advocacy group for affordable energy.
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The price forecasting tool shows that parts of Ontario and Atlantic saw the biggest drop in regular diesel prices of around 20 cents per liter on April 1.
In Toronto and Ottawa, normal gas prices fell below $1.40 per liter on April 1, after exceeding $1.50 per liter in recent weeks, according to Gas Wizard.
Fredericton saw a similar decline, but after reaching at least $1.60 last week, the price fell to $1.44 per liter. In Charlottetown, prices fell below $1.50 per liter from nearly $1.70 a few days ago. At St. John’s in NL, the price has been just over $1.50 per liter after peaking at $1.70 recently.
Doug Ford of the Ontario Premiere welcomed the change and called the consumer carbon tax “the worst tax of all time.”
Victoria and Vancouver have fallen by about 18 cents per liter in fuel prices, both of which are one of Canada’s highest. On April 1st, prices in Victoria were just above $1.70 per liter, while Vancouver exceeded the recent high of $1.75 per liter and above $1.90 per liter.
According to Gas Wizard, both Regina and Winnipeg saw a drop of about 18 cents per liter. In Regina, prices fell to nearly $1.34 per liter, down from around $1.52 the previous day, while in Winnipeg, prices fell from nearly $1.49 to about $1.31 per liter.
Calgary and Edmonton experienced a more modest decline, with prices falling between 9-11 cents per liter. As of April 1, fuel prices in both cities were below $1.40 per liter, starting from nearly $1.49 per liter in Edmonton to just under $1.50 in Calgary.
Prime Minister Daniel Smith, a strong opposition to the tax, praised federal conservatives for cutting the April 1 consumer carbon tax cut to zero.
“We look forward to retailers passing these savings all over. We are watching.
Federal conservatives are strongly opposed to the carbon tax, saying the cost of living will be more expensive. They argue that changes in costs to businesses ultimately affect consumers. This is because these costs are likely to be passed down.
The Canadian media contributed to this report.
