Prices at the pumps: Time to put up or shut up

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Published on May 8, 2008

Published on February 6, 2010

Bram Eisenthal  

I do not know how any of you can stand it. I certainly can’t. Gas prices, that is. Are you all SO rich, swimming in dough, that you can keep filling up at whatever price they throw at us, grimacing while the oil companies coerce us into paying the highest prices in North America, while our government – at any level - does nothing to give us a hand? I know I’m not. This really hurts. So, seriously, WHY are you accepting this so quietly? I dunno, it is just me who is ready to do something? I filled up today, at my local West End Ultramar, at $134.9 cents a liter. My $50 investment gave me 2/3 of a tank. Bupkis. It won’t get me through the week, that’s for sure, which means what? That my measly salary will go even less far toward satisfying my basic living needs. I’d give up driving to work eventually, but pretty soon, thanks to the complete of lack of relief from the mayor’s office, a Montreal bus pass will cost almost as much as gas for a month. That’s right… build your beautiful new Griffintown, Mr. Mad Mayor. Let Rome burn while you fiddle. In the US, politicians are making a huge deal about the oil crisis. I guess it’s due to guilt for THEIR collusion with the oil companies in killing the electric car program that was so promising, the ultimate method of defeating our reliance on oil. Both federal parties there are talking about giving drivers tax relief during the summer months, so that families can afford to drive during summer vacation. What do we get here? A kick in the ass, that’s what. Higher pump prices, if you can believe it. It’s waaay beyond time for us all to take matters into our own hands. First, remember one thing: our politicians work for US, not the other way around. You start harassing your MPs and your MNAs, your ears and eyes in the parlours of government, until they will listen to you. You brought them in and you can certainly take them out… and, no, I am not advocating violent means, to make myself very clear. But in other countries, this is the sort of thing that ignites riots. And second, BOYCOTT THE BLOODY OIL COMPANIES!!! We keep threatening to do so, make a bit of noise about not filling up at certain stations and nothing ever happens. WHY THE HELL NOT? Do you have money to throw away? Are you gonna wait till gas prices reach $3 per liter and your car becomes a fancy planter in your driveway? Of course you won’t. So here is what you WILL do. Starting this week, you will fill up at one station only. Ultramar. This company has been, the past couple of years, THE single best corporate citizen when it comes to being fair and reasonable. They’re certainly not giving it away either, but they are not screwing us quite as badly. STOP buying from majors like Shell, Esso and the biggest joke of them all, our “national” oil company, Petro Canada, and you will see how fast they throw up their hands, as millions of dollars in revenue go to the good guys. These companies certainly don’t care about us, but they do care about profit. And it’s time we hit them in the same place they’ve been hitting us for so very long now. There are enough Ultramar outlets in the West End that you will find one near you, wherever you live. As for the others, they can light their tanks on fire, for all I care. I’ll bring the hot dogs and marshmallows.