If you want to know why gas prices have dropped so precipitously in Canada, allow Dan McTeague to explain and why they may surge in a few months.
Dan McTeague is the Guru Of Gas In Canada, President of Canadians for Affordable Energy and operates the website GasBuddy.com.
I called Dan, whom I have interviewed before, for some clarity.
He said the dropping prices are a combination of three things: the Federal Liberals, under new Prime Minister Mark Carney, announced on March 14 the elimination of the carbon tax, resulting in about a 20-cent drop from $1.55 per litre. Dan also said a further 10-cent drop is the result of speculation of a possible recession, which has led to the futures market heavily discounting oil by about $10-12 a barrel, influenced by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and subsequent counter tariffs by other nations. And Dan also cited “gas bar shenanigans” dropping the price at about six p.m. when there are less people fueling up than during the day.
“Unless you’re really wealthy and don’t care about the price of fuel or spending money you don’t have, you shouldn’t be buying gas before six anyplace,” Dan said. “The tried and true (theory) is it doesn’t matter what day of the week or where you are, buy your gasoline after six in the evening because then gas stations throw in the towel at that point and you can save quite a bit of money, as much as 10-12 cents a litre.
“Gas stations catch a lot of people in the morning going to work thinking if they do it then they’ll save some money, but what most people don’t realize is the biggest savings occur between three o’clock in the afternoon and midnight where gas bars tend to get rid of the margins necessary to stay in business. So for anybody who is looking to save money, the big savings you would have day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month is buying after six in the evening. Never buy it in the morning, never buy it in the afternoon.
“It adds up in the end, but for a lot of people who are a lot more economical this is solid-gold advice that will save you as much, if not more, than predicting gas prices.”
He said the only region in Canada where it doesn’t matter is the Maritimes, which has regulated prices.
“You’re at a loss all the time, they never pass on the cheaper prices,” he said.
Dan said if the federal Liberals are re-elected on April 28, gas prices will start to rise up again because the carbon tax will be brought back in some policy with a different name.
“The Conservatives use scrap, the Liberals use pause and the words have extraordinary meaning, especially in the context of saying the federal Liberals did not get rid of the bureaucracy that instituted and administered the carbon tax policy and did not move to say they would scrap the legislation that allows the pricing on fuel,” Dan said. “There’s nothing about this that suggests to me Liberals aren’t going to find another way of describing what it is. Sooner or later you’re going to get dinged, and those who fall for this you’ll be paying through the nose at the hose and it will be your own folly. It’s a total head fake and people are falling for it. My job is to basically tell them.”
It should be noted Dan was once an elected federal Liberal Member of Parliament for 18 years, so he’s not trying to be a critic, but rather an oracle for people when they are voting in the upcoming election.
“If they don’t want to listen, that’s fine but come bellyaching to me in three to four years or three or four months when it’s reimposed,” Dan said. “Right now you pay a second carbon tax but you don’t even see it. It’s about four or five cents a litre on every litre and it’s called the Clean Fuel Standard. I call it the second carbon tax. I have to tell people what it is because they can’t see it. It’s no longer on their receipt when they buy their gasoline.
“Heed my warning. I know what these guys are going to do. These guys are giving you the full Monty. If you can’t see it, you’ll certainly see it in a few months when it comes right back to haunt us.”
