Ontario NDP leader pledges end to long-weekend gas pump ‘gouging,’ details vague
OTTAWA — The leader of Ontario’s New Democrats pledged in vague terms on Sunday to tackle long-weekend spikes in gasoline prices, alleging that opportunistic gas companies are gouging hard-pressed motorists at the pumps.
Campaigning in Ottawa ahead of the June 7 provincial election, Andrea Horwath took aim at a trend she said was the result of corporate greed.
“We think that it is an abuse to simply gouge people at the pumps because there’s a long weekend coming,” Horwath said. “We’re going to prevent that spike from happening.”
Gas prices routinely jump ahead of long weekends, which the industry attributes to market dynamics — increased demand and distance to distributors.