Montreal ranks sixth highest in national gas price report

According to a new report, Montreal and Quebec remain in the middle of the pack when it comes to gas prices and taxes, but one organization would like more done to reduce the cost for consumers at the pump.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) released its "Gas Tax Honesty Report", which places Montreal sixth in the country (among cities and provinces) on its gas price ranking and Quebec eighth. Newfoundland and Labrador ranked first, followed by Vancouver.

The average price in Montreal, the report reads, is $1.75 with a pre-tax price of $1.07, and Quebec's price is $1.70 after tax and $1.05 before.

On the CTF's gas tax ranking, Vancouver is at the top, with Montreal at fifth (third among cities) and Quebec at sixth.

The CTF applauded Francois Legault's government's move to end the minimum gas price, and is asking for more cuts at the pump.

"For too long, the minimum prices artificially stopped gas stations from being more competitive and offering better prices, and Quebecers have all the reason to be happy to see it disappear for good," said CTF Quebec director Nicolas Gagnon. "By getting rid of such a mechanism, the Legault government concedes that Quebecers are paying too much at the pump."

The federal government and most provinces (including Quebec) charge an excise tax, in addition to a carbon tax, a tax to support public transit, and a provincial sales tax and federal sales tax.

Cities insist that the transit tax must remain, and environmental groups say gas prices must remain high.

"We all know that the more you have to pay for something, the less you want to use of it," said Tim Gray from Environment Canada. The whole point of carbon pricing is to ensure that people are encouraged to use less. So either have vehicles that use less fuel or when people are making a decision perhaps to switch to a car that doesn't use gasoline at all, maybe by electric vehicle or a hybrid."

Energy Ministry director of communications Mathieu St-Armand said that Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon will table an amemndment to remove the floor price in his energy bill. The study of that bill begins at the start of the fall session.

Energy expert professor Pierre-Olivier Pineau said that the price floor protects small, independent gas stations so larger chains cannot drop their prices to a point that the small stations cannot match and sustain.

"It's sometimes used as a strategy to make some businesses go out of business," the HEC Montreal professor said in May when the suggestion of removing the floor was announced.

The CTF report says that between 38 and 39 per cent of the price at the pump in the province is tax equal to about 65 to 68 cents.