North Bay Councillor Mike Anthony’s motion at a recent council meeting to have North Bay gas prices investigated by the competition bureau has been forwarded to the federal body.
Prior to Sunday’s election call, now incumbent MP Jay Aspin, forwarded a letter to the federal body asking for some answers.
“Would you please regard correspondence as formal support for the Council of the City of North Bay on behalf of their citizens for their request to the Competition Bureau to investigate the issue of higher gasoline prices in their municipality,” Aspin requested in the letter to Competition Bureau Commissioner John Pecman.
Councillor Anthony pointed out his concern just by looking at the unusually high priced here compared to other part of the province as of Tuesday:
North Bay 122.9
Sturgeon Falls 116
Barrie 105.9
Peterborough 108
Orillia 106 to 108
Sarnia 99
Renfrew 109
“In our case in North Bay I don’t know what the abnormalities are, we aren’t accusing anyone of anything but there are certainly seems to be some defying of logic when you look at the kind of prices we are paying,” stated Anthony Wednesday morning.
The Chamber of Commerce is backing the letter as well.
“We are in support of the City's letter to the Competition Bureau calling them to investigate the unusually high gas prices in comparison with other bordering communities,” said Chamber President Jake Lacourse in an email to BayToday.ca
“In a business climate where all expenses are increasing, our members are looking for relief. If we can get the prices under control or at least get to the bottom of the reasoning for the high prices, we can then answer to our members. This is an incredibly complex issue and we're looking for answers."
Anthony knows that this process will not be a speedy one.
“The competition bureau doesn’t give you an answer in a day or two, this is a large federal body with a lot of things on the go,” said Anthony.
“It’s not a guarantee, we know that going in that they will look at the North Bay prices but it’s worth asking because they have looked into other cities.”
Anthony says there is reason for optimism because the Competition Bureau nailed three companies that were found guilty of price fixing in the Kingston and Brockville area a couple years ago. Anthony says the companies were fined close to $2,000,000.
