Fuel Gouging

John Tory Adds Fuel to the Socialist Fire

Progressive Conservatives Condemned for "Fuel-Gouging" Proposal

May 18, 2007 - Freedom Party of Ontario leader Paul McKeever is condemning John Tory's statement today, in a media release, that gasoline companies should have to "do a better job of justifying...their prices to the public".

"The shamefully anti-capitalist nature of Tory's comment today is made clear by the fact that it comes on the heels of his own party's introduction, yesterday, of Bill 228", said McKeever.

Bill 228, the Gas Prices Notice Act, 2007, is a private members' bill introduced by Progressive Conservative MPP Joe Tascona. Bill 228 would reportedly impose big fines on companies that fail to inform customers 72 hours before a rise in gasoline prices (the text of the Bill has yet to be posted to the status-of-bills page on the Ontario Legislature website). Tascona was yesterday quoted as saying "I think the industry has an obligation to better explain why their prices fluctuate the way they do".

"It's basic economics", says McKeever. "Ultimately, the price of any good or service is the price that the seller thinks the buyer will pay. It's as simple as that. If you don't want to pay the price requested, don't buy. If too few people buy at the requested price, the price will be lowered, or the vendor will not long remain in business. Fiddling with prices, as the tories want to do, will short-circuit the price system's role in ensuring that fuel is distributed properly, especially when supply is unusually low.

"More importantly, Bill 228 betrays even the most basic tenets of western morality. It is morally obscene to expect anyone to have to 'justify' their justly-earned income. Nobody has right to know whether a private company's profit margins are high or razor-thin. It is an assault on capitalism itself for members of provincial parliament to propose fines. What the Progressive Conservatives are proposing is nothing less than Fuel Gouging.

"John Tory said today that Fuel Gouging is 'the type of thing [he] would do as Premier of
Ontario'. I would have thought that someone seeking to be the Premier would have at least a basic understanding of economics, and the moral integrity not to add fuel to the ignorant conspiracy theorists' fire.

"And this is the 'type' of thing he would do as Premier? Good grief. Does anyone really want to continue the pretence that the Progressive Conservatives are not a socialist party?"

For further details, contact: Paul McKeever

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website: https://freedomparty.on.ca
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Tel: 1-800-830-3301
web: https://freedomparty.on.ca