Madeleine White and Carola Vyhnak Staff Reporters
Drivers are getting a special Canada Day gift at the pumps from the HST.
The price of a litre of gasoline is expected to be about eight cents higher in the GTA today, according to Liberal MP Dan McTeague.
The anticipation of the HST gas increase caused panic at the pumps Wednesday evening as flocks of drivers lined up for cheaper fuel and some stations ran dry from the heightened demand. Gasoline is among a long list of goods and services seeing a permanent price increase because of the 13 per cent harmonized sales tax.
“The idea of getting gas in the GTA for under a buck a litre is something we will look back on fondly,” McTeague said, adding that a 8-cent jump would be the steepest spike in nearly two years.
“The reality now is that we can pretty much guarantee that prices will be in this range or above in the days ahead.”
McTeague said some gas retailers he spoke with Wednesday said demand was two to three times higher than normal — likely a product of the long weekend and the HST implementation.
“There is no question that we were seeing an increased demand (on Wednesday),” said Shell spokesman Jeff Gabert.
A “small percentage” of Shell stations did run out of gas, said Gabert. But as stations lost their supply, drivers seemed to lose their patience.
Pat O’Neill fumed as she tried to find some gas on her way home to Riverdale.
“This is my fourth gas station and nobody’s got gas!” she said at the Shell station on the corner of Parliament and Richmond Sts. “I need to fill up and I didn’t want to wait till tomorrow — you know, to save $5. It’s so ridiculous.”
Toronto resident Steve Mitchell joined the steady stream of vehicles at a downtown Petro-Canada station, where regular gas was selling for 96.4 cents a litre.
“It’s because of the tax,” he said. “I’ll save $5 to $8 because the price on premium will probably go up 10 cents tomorrow. Every five bucks I can get, I’ll take, especially if it’s a tax saving.”
Several blocks west at Wellington St. and Spadina Ave., Max Wang was topping up his friend’s silver Audi convertible.
“He’s in North Bay and he asked me to fill it up for him because of the HST,” Wang said. “It’s just the feeling — nobody wants to pay eight per cent more.”
The car, as it turned out, was only half-empty — or half-full, depending on your perspective.
“Obviously gasoline is only one area (affected by the HST), but it’s the one that is probably most readily felt by consumers and it’s one that will affect them most often,” said McTeague.
The long-term effect from the HST on gas prices remains to be seen, McTeague said, adding the only certainty is that this tax is here to stay.
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