More financial help coming if Alberta's fortunes continue to improve: Kenney
If Alberta's fiscal outlook continues to improve, officials will look at doing more to help those dealing with inflation and rising prices, Premier Jason Kenney said Friday.
"Late spring or early summer would be our horizon," he said.
"We need to make sure that we are on a sustainable track, we're not going to go back into a multi-billion deficit overnight. But if we see continued progress on the fiscal and economic front, we may be in a position to provide meaningful support to Albertans in the weeks to come.”
Kenney didn't elaborate on what that support would be.
"At the end of the day, there's some factors beyond our provincial control," he said.
"The federal government has run a very loose monetary policy, basically printing money, that has driven inflation. They've also had a reckless fiscal policy that has also driven up inflation. So we need to see a federal commitment to getting inflation under control."
In March, Kenney announced the province's 13 cents a litre gas tax would be paused as long as the cost of West Texas Intermediate remained above US $90.
"There was a lot of skepticism, a lot of people thought the retailers weren't going to pass on the 13 cent a litre savings. I want to thank the retailers, they took a lot of criticism before, but they have passed on the 13 cent savings and we have by far the lowest gas prices in Canada.
"We're, I think the last I saw, about 65 cents lower than our neighbours in British Columbia. It's less of a problem here, but it's still a problem."
The average fuel price in Calgary as of Friday morning was 169.1 cents per litre, according to GasBuddy.com.
That's still roughly 20 cents cheaper per litre than the national average due in part to the province's decision to temporarily lift the provincial gas tax back in April.
At this time last year, gas in Calgary was about 45 cents cheaper per litre.
HIGH FUEL PRICES HERE TO STAY
North American crude oil market analyst, Kevin Birn with S&P Global says the biggest factor in the increasing price of gas at the pumps has a lot to do with the current price of oil.
He notes that even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the global oil markets were tightening right as demand recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We've seen a number of financial sanctions come in place and a lot of people are self sanctioning, moving off of Russian oil, that oil isn't disappearing, it's being rerouted,” Birn said.
“It's going longer distances, but largely that's inflating and causing uncertainty about the availability of that oil and hence higher prices have come out of it.”
The other factor leading to higher gas prices for consumers relates to tighter inventories of refined products, particularly diesel which is very low right now.
“This is also typically a point in the year where we go into our driving season, people take holidays and go places and after two years plus of being locked down, I think people are eager to get out and travel both by car and by plane, and that's going to cause some upward pressure,” he said.
Birn adds oil prices may see some softening into the autumn months, but with what he calls a ‘heavy caveat’ given that the COVID-19 virus is still causing lockdowns in Asia which are affecting demand.
“So it's positive for prices because of weakening demand, but if they come out of that, that can see some upward pressure and although we talk about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there’s a lot of instability in other places as well," he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
BREAKING Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
WATCH LIVE As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Disappointment widespread over budget's proposed $200-month disability benefit funding
Advocacy groups across Canada are expressing widespread disappointment about the amount of funding earmarked in the 2024 federal budget for the long-awaited Canada Disability Benefit.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
Ancient skeletons unearthed in France reveal Mafia-style killings
More than 5,500 years ago, two women were tied up and probably buried alive in a ritual sacrifice, using a form of torture associated today with the Italian Mafia, according to an analysis of skeletons discovered at an archeological site in southwest France.
Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s sons have released a single together
A new Lennon and McCartney collaboration is the last thing anybody expected.