Gas price apathy
Sep 14, 2012 / 3:31 pm
Photo: Contributed - Castanet traffic page
|
The co-founder of a popular gas price-tracking website says consumers are becoming increasingly desensitized to wild swings at the pump, like the 13-cent wallop Montrealers experienced earlier this week.
Gasbuddy.com's Jason Toews recalls Canadians being "on the edge of revolt" in 2005, when the damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina rippled north of the border and sent the national average to a then-record of $1.23 per litre.
"People were really upset by the high gas prices and they're talking about boycotting the oil companies and gas stations," he said.
"Ironically enough, it doesn't seem that expensive anymore at $1.23. That's kind of the new norm."
The national average for gasoline sat at $1.33 per litre on Thursday and early Friday. Toews said he expects it to dip into the $1.20 per litre range by December.
Gasbuddy.com showed that several Ontario cities saw significant price decreases early Friday, based on sightings by consumers that share their observations on the website.
Toronto showed a five-cent decline to just under $1.31 per litre, Ottawa's was down nearly five cents to $1.28, Hamilton's was down about four cents to $1.31. London, Kitchener-Waterloo and Barrie, Ont. also showed declines of between two and three-cents per litre with prices in the $1.31 to $1.33 per litre range.
Check updated gas prices in the Okanagan on our traffic page.
