ONTARIO—The Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) is in support of gas prices being regulated in Ontario.
“We agree there needs to be a mechanism in place to keep the disparity of gas prices in Northern Ontario compared to southern Ontario in line so it is fair,” said Al Spacek, president of FONOM, last week. “When a person in Ontario buys or renews their driver’s licence or buys alcohol at a store, they pay the same price regardless of whether they are living in Northern or southern Ontario, and we agree the same should be in place for gas prices in the province,” said Mr. Spacek, who said a motion calling for this was passed by FONOM members at its annual conference held recently.
The city of North Bay had recently requested the province to investigate regulating gasoline prices, and FONOM backed the motion that (North Bay) Councillor Mike Anthony had tabled in March, to look at regulating prices at the pump as is done in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, reported the North Bay Nugget in its May 19, 2016 edition.
Mr. Anthony has suggested regulated prices would do away with sudden changes and erratic pricing from one community to another, providing some stability.
Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador all use a system that sets a maximum price and a scheduled change. Customers know what they will pay from week to week with province-wide price ranges in place. Quebec sets minimum prices weekly.
