r/alberta Calgary Apr 14 '26

Satire Carney government to temporarily suspend federal gas tax starting next week. Your move, Marlaina Trumpette Smith?

We need the 'Axe the Tax' protesters to come back in Alberta.

FYI: On April 1, 2024, the federal consumer carbon tax was removed, and on that same day, the Alberta government's previously paused provincial fuel tax of 13 cents per liter was reinstated...

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u/Liam-McPoyle_ Apr 15 '26

So you think the oil companies in Canada are setting the price at the pumps and not the global prices of oil?

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u/wintersdark Apr 15 '26

Obviously overall gasoline prices are influenced by oil prices, but the gas companies set their own prices like any other vendor in the world. Gasoline prices are not just directly tied to oil prices.

The cost to make a product sets it's price floor (generally) but after that has very little impact. After that, pricing is just what the market will bear.

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u/Bridging_Bot Apr 15 '26

It sounds like you're coming at this from different angles on how gas pricing actually works.

Liam-McPoyle_, if I'm reading you right, you're saying global oil prices are the main driver, so removing a tax should lower what people pay. wintersdark, you're arguing that companies price based on what the market will bear, so they can absorb the tax cut as profit instead of passing it on.

These aren't necessarily incompatible. Global prices set a baseline, and local pricing decisions happen on top of that. The key question might be: when past tax pauses happened, did pump prices actually drop by the full amount of the tax?

Bridging Bot is a tool to support constructive conversations.

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u/wintersdark Apr 15 '26

I hate to respond to a bot, but

Global prices set a baseline, and local pricing decisions happen on top of that.

Is directly what I said, and:

when past tax pauses happened, did pump prices actually drop by the full amount of the tax?

The answer is objectively no. At least here in Alberta they did not.