Bring on the rising gas prices

By Matthew Visser

and this time it will probably stay

E back, the buck-thirty gas prices,
around longer than the last time it left.

And I say let it come. I am not whatsoever

surprised that gas prices have risen to the

_ point they are at now, but I am surprised

at how long it took to get here. Now, just
think about this for a minute: gas is at its
most expensive during the sunny days
of summer. And prices have reached the
price of what they were at last summer.

Now you can probably blame a
lot of reasons for the price of gas: the
problems in the Middle East, there being
too many drivers and cars on the road, the
oil companies being cheap bastards and
wanting more money, and the government
getting a nice amount of pocket money
from the oil companies in taxes.

The rising prices in gas has made
every driver grumble and make angry
faces, and probably swear a few times,
when they got to the pump and had to fill
up. But this is your own fault for owning
a car and driving it as much as you do in
the first place. Driving a car, whether for
business or pleasure, is not a right which

every person feels they get when they turn

sixteen and can get their drivers license.

Driving is a privilege and for every
person to think that they can drive a car is
wrong, and due to the amount of drivers
on the road, you have all put yourselves in
this situation.

I am at a bit of a bias here as I don’t
own a car or drive. I ride a bike and take
the bus. But I know that the rising gas
prices will affect the bus prices too. I am
just happy that as a student the U-Pass is
coming next fall.

I knew that after traveling the whole
country from Vancouver to St. Johns
and seeing the changes of gas prices
from province to province and season to
season, eventually the prices would rise
and keep rising. Vancouver and St. Johns
have the highest gas prices in the country,
and the weird thing is these two cities are
right beside the ocean. Think about it.

On an environmental side, the rising
gas prices might actually have people car
pool, take public transit, or even ride a
bike or walk to their destinations. I feel
that with the rising gas prices people
are going to have to make some hard
decisions on how they are going to live
their lives. My generation, the Mr. Fix It
generation, as I call us, will have to make
decisions for the future of where they
work, where they live and how they live

Qivaro

with getting around.

Speaking of living in Vancouver, it
has been named the third most expensive
city to live in, worldwide. And with
this statistic I feel that with the high gas
prices, this is going to cause people to
adapt to living away, possibly far away,
like Chilliwack or Hope, for when they
finally buy or rent a house and settle
down. This is, however you look at it,
inevitable and the sooner people see that
the rising gas prices are the first sign to
changing life styles; the better it will be
for you to make you life one you want it
to be.

The rising gas prices, in all honesty,
are a good thing. So whether you agree
with me or are so un-happy about having
to pay a buck-thirty to fill your gas tank
up, just think about what kind of car you
are driving and if you really need to go
down town, or if you could walk, or ride
a bike, or car pool to your destination.
This is a sign that the lives we have all
been living are going to change either for
the better or the worse. I say learn now
of how to get around without using a car
because eventually, whether you are a
poor student like myself, getting around
by car by yourself is not going to happen.

 

Rising gas prices? Well, not it | can help it

By Daniel Burke

e’ve seen the price of oil rise
precipitously since the troubles
began in Libya. We know
that Libya produces barely two percent
of the world’s oil supply. However, a
barrel of oil has risen 25% since the
demonstrations and subsequent civil
unrest in that country. Speculators warn
us that this unrest may spread to other oil
producing nations; therefore the increase
in oil futures is reasonable.
I find it very unreasonable that
the industrial nations of the world’s
economies are subject to the damage
of rampant inflation due to a limited
number of speculators who massage the
price of oil to a level totally unrealistic
compared to supply. The U.S. has huge oil
reserves stockpiled which, under normal
circumstances, would drive the price of
a barrel down. Supply and demand is the
normal equation under which we operate
to determine the cost of commodities. The
United States is currently suffering the
effects of the most severe recession since
the early 1980’s. Housing starts are at an
all time low while bank foreclosures are at

an all time high. Bankruptcies are up and
G.D-P. is down. Unemployment remains a
major impediment to recovery while state
and local governments are facing drastic
cutbacks to stave off possible failures.
Canada’s economy is still directly
affected by the conditions south of our
border. We managed to avoid the worst
of the economic downturn by having
amazingly conservative, yet brilliantly
foresighted, banking regulations, and a
relatively low national debt. We were able
to stimulate our economy in the short term
by huge fiscal deficit financing. We are
and have been one of the best examples
world-wide of fiscal responsibility. These
conditions are rapidly changing.
Recovery in Canada is slipping into
a malaise that is beginning to feel like the
strategy we employed was only to delay
the inevitable. Employee earnings remain
flat while the cost of living is rising
steadily. All levels of government are
attempting to find new sources of revenue
to lower their annual deficits while the
level of household debt in Canada is at
an historical all time high. Our economy
is built on consumer spending while we
Canadians are spending record sums on

paying interest to financial institutions.
The percentage of our incomes being
spent to service debt serves no economic
benefit outside of keeping financial
institution’s bottom lines healthy. Sure the
real estate or products purchased help the
economy, but paying from 3.5% to 21.5%
and higher in interest suppresses our
buying power.

Canadians are only buying new cars
because of free or near free financing,
and other big ticket items are not
selling. Retail discounting is happening
in all sectors at all times of the year.
Anecdotally businesses are telling me that
sales are flat and only through reducing
hours of work per employee or temporary
layoffs are keeping the doors open and the
lights on.

Let’s add to this scenario oil prices
jumping by 25% in only a few weeks.
The pundits are telling us to prepare for
even higher prices once the driving season
begins. The one commodity that is the
most inflationary is oil. When gasoline
and diesel prices rise everything else we
sell rises also. Weston announced a five
percent rise in all products in their stores
beginning March 1, 2011. This is only

the beginning. Everything we purchase,
either in store or online, is delivered by
ship, truck, train, plane or a combination
of each. All these methods use primarily
diesel fuel which is either the same price
as gasoline or in some locations slightly
higher. Every product and service is
directly affected by the price of oil.

If Canadians are already in debt to
the point of desperation while all levels
of governments are busy looking for
new ways to squeeze another pint from
us stones, how will this artificial and
unnecessary round of inflation bleed an
already wobbly and anaemic economy?

While I believe that market forces
rather than government policy should
drive prices, there must be a mechanism
to deal with speculators and professional
money manipulators. As often as not
excess regulations are an unnecessary
burden on business. However, I feel sure
that the protection of the average working
person and business owner must be
considered. The consequences of allowing
current market forces complete control
over energy prices without checks and
balances are far too severe.

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