Prices climb at the pumps as provincial fuel tax partially returns
Alberta’s fuel tax has been partially reinstated to gas stations across the province, as oil dipped below $90 a barrel for West Texas Intermediate.
On Saturday, prices climbed 4.5 cents per litre, with stations in Calgary advertising regular fuel for $1.56 to $1.64 per litre.
Premier Jason Kenney says Alberta has it better than most provinces.
“On average, we are 16 cents lower than Saskatchewan, 28 cents lower than Manitoba and 62 cents lower than our West Coast friends in B.C.,” said Kenney.
Relief for the fuel tax came in April, when oil was trading around $120 per barrel.
With a significant drop in the price of oil, Kenney says the province needs to return the tax to stay out of debt.
“When the province started to benefit from much higher oil prices, we said Albertans should see some immediate benefit from that,” said Kenney.
“A $40 change in WTI is a $20-billion difference in our fiscal capacity. We don’t want Alberta to suddenly slip back into the red. We got out of deficits for the first time in 14 years and we’ve got to stay there.”
The remaining 8.5 cents will be added to the price of gas when oil is below $80 a barrel.
The fuel relief measures are analyzed quarterly, so the earliest it could return would be the end of the year, if oil drops even more.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.