Greed, Gas and a pain in the ....neck

Unbelievable - gas is $1.29 per liter today...for my American friends that is $4.88 per US gallon and for my European friends that is $5.86 per UK gallon. We can complain, we can shout, we can "boycott"...but we can't win. We are reliant on gas in my part of the world. We need it to go to work, we need it to travel. Unlike a lot of places in the world, public transit is NOT an option for rural Ontario. Our train tracks were ripped up years ago, buses are few and far between and taxis are almost non-existent. Car pooling just doesn't work with the just in time schedules that people have. Maybe downsizing the vehicle you drive is an option? Option yes, solution no. I have a truck - 110 litres to fill it and it gets 18 mpg on a good day with the wind behind me. It fits me, my wife and 3 children comfortably. When we need to go away, we have room to put the stroller, luggage and anything else that a family of 5 needs in the back. In the winter (and yes, we get a lot of snow, ice, slush and drifting) it is very stable and I can get from A to B with no problem. Also my family feels safe in it.

I also have a Civic...1.6 litres of Japanese engineering. It gets 50mpg...only problem is that with a wife and 3 children (one in a car seat) it is a very tight squeeze. Is it doable, yes, is it comfortable, no. It is also good in the snow - I just put the winter tires on it and it is amazing in the snow....as long as the snow is not over 10 cm's deep...then the bumper pushes the snow.

But what can WE do? Electric cars? - Maybe in the future - the infrastructure is not in place currently, especially in Rural Ontario. Hybrid car? There are not a lot of people that I know that can afford a new hybrid. Sure some can - and if you can - great !

Oil companies are maximizing their profits...on the backs of ordinary Canadians...And we'll just keep on taking it. Why, because we are Canadian. We aren't going to riot, we aren't going to protest in the streets, we aren't overthrow the government...we're Canadian. We're going to discuss, we're going think of "solutions", we're going to complain...
Even our Prime Minister - Mr. Harper spoke about the gas prices in Canada in last nights French leadership debate (which I watched)...he basically said that the government can't do anything about the high prices...that's why they lowered the GST... So we get the GST lowered and then oil companies raise the price on gas - the government still gets their tax because now the price is higher...unreal.

For the next few years here is advice that we, as Canadians, may come in handy - get a good chiropractor, some muscle relaxants, and a good masseuse because the pain is not going away any time soon :)