Despite the drop in gasoline prices, people in Greater Quebec continue to pay too much for their fuel because gas stations remain too greedy, says CAA-Quebec.
• Also read: More expensive in the Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches: Elected officials want to know the truth about the price of gasoline
“Even if displayed prices at the pump have fallen, they remain too high due to high retail margins. “So the problem remains unresolved and continues to exist in the region,” said Andrée-Ann Déry, communications advisor at CAA-Quebec, bluntly in a message to the QMI agency.
In August, drivers in Quebec paid an average of 184.9 cents per liter for their liter of gasoline, a price that was much higher than elsewhere in the province at the time. The price difference at the pump was around 25 cents per liter in certain locations in Quebec and in the national capital.
Given this disparity, CAA-Quebec turned to Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon to order the Régie de l’énergie to investigate the region’s gasoline prices and, in particular, the profit margins that retailers reserve for themselves.
According to the organization, retail margins in the Capitale-Nationale have increased three to four times more than Quebec as a whole since 2018-2019.
Following the minister’s intervention, the price of fuel began to fall from August 28. On Friday, the region averaged 175.1 cents per liter. At the same time, the price of a liter of gasoline in Montreal was 167 cents.
This decline cannot be explained by Pierre Fitzgibbon’s request to the Régie de l’énergie, emphasizes CAA-Québec. “The displayed prices have been adjusted downwards in the region due to the decline in oil indicators,” it stressed, reiterating that motorists pay less in other comparable regions.
“CAA-Quebec cannot explain this incongruence,” we added.
Something is brewing in Beauce
As Radio Beauce reported, investigators from the Federal Competition Office visited gas stations in Saint-Georges in Beauce during the day on Thursday.
“This is excellent news,” said CAQ MP Samuel Poulin, who in June called on the competition commissioner to launch an investigation after finding that the price of gasoline in Better was often higher than elsewhere in Quebec. “In addition, the price of gasoline fell by about 5 cents yesterday in Saint-George,” the elected official noted.
“What I have always wanted is for there to be competition in the St. Georges area,” Mr. Poulin added.
The average price of gasoline today by region
Chaudière-Appalaches: 175.7 cents
Quebec: 175.1 cents
Mauricie: 174.9 cents
Estrie: 174.7 cents
Bas-Saint-Laurent: 174.4 cents
Laval: 169.2 cents
Lanaudière: 167.9 cents
Centre-du-Québec: 167.9 cents
Laurentians: 167.3 cents
Montreal: 167 cents
Montérégie: 166.4 cents
Outaouais: 164.5 cents
Abitibi-Témiscamingue: 164.3 cents
Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean: 159.4 cents