EDITORIAL – How about some more letters complaining about gas prices?

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

CITY COUNCILS love to write letters. Sometimes it’s all they can do. There’s nothing wrong with it; at least they’re putting their views on record about things they can’t fix.

Another example of it came up at Tuesday’s (July 14, 2026) Kamloops council meeting. The price at the pump has been an irritant for Kamloops drivers for so long, and has been protested so many times, that the only point of raising it again is the slight satisfaction we all get from a good rant.

What especially bugs Kamloops drivers is the fact that gas is often cheaper in nearby communities, including Falkland and the Okanagan. It makes no sense, they say, since gas is shipped to some of these other communities from Kamloops. And the price always seems to go up on long weekends, when everybody takes a road trip and has no choice in the matter.

So the case has been argued at the provincial and federal levels, always to no avail. We had a gas rebate at one point, and let’s not forget Carney’s moves on federal gas taxes, which make quite a difference.

Gas prices have always been a popular issue in the B.C. Legislature, where the party in opposition loves to blame the party in power. The premier of the day, on the other hand, tends to point the finger at the feds, at Big Oil for not building enough refineries, or at Alberta because, well, it’s Alberta.

A few years ago, when Todd Stone was still a Liberal MLA and gas topped $2 a litre, he said the NDP government should lower gas-related taxes and put permanent rebates in place. But nobody has come up with a solution to high gas prices in general and in Kamloops in particular.

In January, the Kamloops council, at the behest of Coun. Bill Sarai, fired off letters of complaint to our two MLAs, our MP and government ministers. Nothing has resulted other than Energy Minister Adrian Dix referring the issue to the B.C. Utilities Commission.

So now, Coun. Stephen Karpuk wants to go to the Competition Bureau of Canada.

But the reasons for gas prices have been explained many times in the past, with nobody the wiser. They include supply of a product for which demand never drops, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, political instability, and refinery maintenance.

As for prices in Kamloops specifically, it supposedly has to do with the fact that we live in a high-traffic, high-demand centre, allowing the oil companies to maintain higher margins. That’s your free enterprise system at work.

A few years ago the B.C. Utilities Commission did look into it, and came up with all of those various answers which, in the end, represented no answer at all.

So, no, the council isn’t going to get the answers it’s looking for. But maybe some more letters will make them feel as though they’re at least doing something, rather than nothing.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, writes for the Kamloops Chronicle and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and was a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.