VICTORIA – Andrew Wilkinson’s plan to cap gas prices by limiting taxes would amount to a subsidy for oil companies and wouldn’t save drivers any money, according to Werner Antweiler at UBC’s Sauder School of Business.
Speaking with CBC Radio<https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-4-bc-today/clip/15693217-april-26-2019-gas-prices-and-the-b.c.-government.-gas-consumption-and-vehicle-maintenance> on Friday, Antweiler said:
“I’m quite astonished by this proposal because it defies any economic logic.”
“Any such measure would just be an incentive for oil companies to raise their prices to absorb that reduction in taxes. So, it wouldn’t really change the prices but it would boost the profits of the oil companies and it would do absolutely nothing for consumers.”
“It’s a completely ineffective proposition. It makes no economic sense.”
BC NDP MLA Ravi Kahlon said: “British Columbians are already being gouged by big oil companies, and now Andrew Wilkinson wants to use public dollars to boost their profits even more. Yet again, the BC Liberals are putting their corporate friends first and making everyone else pay for it.”
