May 21, 2007 - Freedom Party today released a video that takes aim at gasoline "price gouging" conspiracy theorists, and that condemns Ontario's newly-introduced private member's Bill 228, which is titled the Gas Prices Notice Act, 2007.  Titled "Adding Fuel to the Socialist Fire", the new video can be watched on Freedom Party's youtube.com channel: 

VIDEO URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG4S1dXh-mA.
(running time approx: 16 min.)

If made law, Bill 228 (introduced on May 17, 2007 by Progressive Conservative MPP Joe Tascona) would require gasoline companies to announce price increases three days in advance.

"This bill is the morally corrupt product of somebody who, apparently, has little understanding of economics", says Freedom Party leader Paul McKeever.  "If it were made law, it would sometimes force producers or sellers to sell fuel at or below cost.  It would be the equivalent of forcing fuel companies to give people gasoline for free.   Such 'fuel gouging' would have a horribly negative impact on producers and sellers and on consumers.  And, in fact, one can reasonably expect that the bill would force prices upward during periods of low or normal demand.

"John Tory's assertion that gasoline companies must somehow 'justify' the price of gasoline implies an injustice that does not exist.  We don't call it 'wage gouging' when the government forces people to pay 50% extra for labour on holidays on threat of fine or imprisonment.  It is utterly immoral to call a 2 or 10 percent increase in gasoline prices 'price gouging', or to imply that this normal, positive functioning of the price system is somehow unjust. 

"Hopefully, this video will help people to think-through some of the moral and economic issues concerning prices, and help them to see through some of the 'price gouge' lingo of the conspiracy theorists and the political opportunists."

Key words: gasoline price gouging fuel socialism john tory pc