As this was being written federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh was set to call on the Liberals and Conservatives to “start defending the interests of Canadians who are being gouged at the pumps while oil and gas companies make record profits.”
This, of course, is all well, good and overdue. But the MP for Burnaby South, a city that’s home to an oil refinery owned by Parkland Fuel Corp., should also call on his provincial NDP government counterparts to do just that.
To date, Premier John Horgan’s answer to price gouging at the pumps has been to toss an insultingly small $110 “gas relief rebate” at motorists, to advise them to use alternate transportation, and to urge them to “think” whether they need to make that trip before getting behind the wheel.
READ ALSO: Closer travel spots gain appeal as average gas price tops $2 a litre for first time
British Columbians are buckling under the weight of North America’s highest gas prices, the increasingly soul-withering price of groceries, and absurd housing costs.
Yet, rather than throw Surrey residents and other British Columbians a lifeline in this economic storm, Horgan’s spectacularly tone-deaf NDP government has decided to chuck $789 million at replacing the Royal BC Museum in Victoria.
What poor stewardship of our tax dollars. It’s kind of like giving a starving man only a plate and spoon. Enjoy.
It’s particularly egregious given that this new museum won’t be opening its doors for at least another eight years, when people are suffering in the here and now.
And so, we hope Singh will do the right thing and also call on his ideological brothers and sisters in the NDP government to “start defending” British Columbians against crippling price gouging.
– Now-Leader
edit@surreynowleader.com
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