A mayor of a town of 6,500 people on the north coast, bordering on 50e At the same time, he called in the Competition Bureau to shine a spotlight on gasoline prices, which he considers “excessive.”
“I have spoken to citizens on both sides about this. I said to myself, ‘We’re going to do something.’ We’re going to call the competition office,” Port-Cartier Mayor Alain Thibault told the Journal.
“I sent them a letter in December about the excessive gas prices. It did not last long. “They came in February,” he continues, satisfied with the speed of implementation.
In his city, gasoline costs 10 cents more than in several surrounding communities, or $1.69 per liter instead of $1.59.
Why is gasoline more expensive in Port-Cartier? “In Quebec, the retail price of fuel in most establishments operating under the Irving brand is set by each retailer,” said Katherine d'Entremont, citing Irving Oil.
Last Tuesday, Le Journal reported that motorists are currently experiencing sharp price increases at the pump, despite the drop in oil prices on the markets.
“In the Quebec region and on the south shore of Montreal, we saw prices as high as 166 cents per liter, while a few days ago the price was around 155 cents per liter,” noted Nicolas Ryan, director of public affairs at CAA-Québec .
“Preliminary examination»
Last Thursday, the competition office announced on social networks that it had recently visited gas stations in the Côte-Nord and Bas-Saint-Laurent, to the great delight of the mayor of Port-Cartier, Alain Thibault, who had raised this red flag.
The Competition Office was on the North Shore last week. Provided by the Competition Office
When asked by Le Journal, the office confirmed that it was “at the preliminary examination stage”. “No conclusions have been drawn as to the existence of any wrongdoing,” we carefully emphasized.
For the same reasons, the competition office also visited gas stations in Beauce last October.
During a visit to Gaspé in recent days, Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon said he found “eloquent” a report from the Régie de l'énergie that shows Gaspé residents sometimes pay more for their gas than others, Radio-Canada reported .
The energy minister also said that he had sent this report to the Competition Bureau and the Canadian Ministry of Innovation.
– In collaboration with Sylvain Larocque
Highlights
According to the Régie de l'énergie, Montreal and Laval have the most gas stations per square kilometer. Côte-Nord, Nord-du-Québec, Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Abitibi-Témiscamingue and Mauricie “are below the average threshold for all of Quebec.”
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