Re: 鈥淕as price difference doesn鈥檛 compute,鈥� letter, April 24.
The letter-writer presents a misleading case when he states that the high prices of gasoline in Victoria cannot be related to the closure of the Cherry Point refinery near Bellingham because the price of gas in Bellingham is $1.14 per litre.
He compares the Bellingham price with prices in Calgary, Montreal, Halifax and Toronto, and makes his conclusion based on the fact that gasoline is the same price in Bellingham and Calgary.
Canada levies much higher taxes on gasoline, and B.C. adds to that levy. A better comparison would be to look at Toronto and Buffalo prices and compare them to the spread between Bellingham and Victoria.
Buffalo gasoline is 74 cents per litre and Toronto is $1.27.9, a spread of 54 cents. If we add this spread of 54聽cents representing 91原创 taxes to the Bellingham price, we get a price of $1.68 a litre, which is more or less the price of gasoline in Victoria. This indicates that indeed the price in Bellingham, not including 91原创 taxes, is about the same as the price in Victoria.
David Mackie
Victoria
