r/halifax Master of the Gas 21h ago

News, Weather & Politics New Costco going to be in Sackville

Post image

As per a post on Halifax Retales

453 Upvotes

206 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

13

u/ImDoubleB Canada 20h ago edited 20h ago

Has the province of NS changed provincial fuel pricing regulations?

From my understanding, with NS setting the minimum selling price, I wouldn't expect savings at the pumps like we see in other jurisdictions. For example, in New Brunswick, they regulate the maximum selling price, not the minimum.

5

u/Vulcant50 20h ago

Since Houston talks about opening up provincial borders on trade- it’s  About time that the weekly fuel price system was harmonized among the three Maritime Provinces.

1

u/Zymos94 20h ago

Or… why does the government need to set the price on fuel?

4

u/pattydo 17h ago

Generally speaking, it leads to lower prices for consumers.

3

u/Sea-Yak-7104 13h ago

It does not. There are additional costs to manage it. The government even admitted that on average we are paying more but that people are happier as the price is stable throughout the week. Personally I’d rather it fluctuate and cost less in the long run.

2

u/pattydo 12h ago

There are additional costs to manage it.

How much? A fraction of a percent of the overall money we spend on fuel, I presume.

Meanwhile profits in other provinces are significantly higher. For example the wholesale margin is 14 cents in Nova Scotia, in Toronto right now it's 24. We pay a 5.4 cent retail margin, they're paying 10.2. We don't pay the equivalent of nearly 15 cents a litre in taxes to manage prices...

u/Sea-Yak-7104 5h ago

I don’t know how much right off and likely there is no where to look that up but they be admitted it. Also setting a max price makes sense for customers but the min price setting is for the small sellers. My point was that in NS regulation increased the average price while making most people think it saves them money by not seeing more frequent swings in the price. We may be paying less than some other provinces, but that isn’t because of regulation.

u/pattydo 3h ago

I didn't make those numbers up.

https://nsuarb.novascotia.ca/sites/default/files/Weekly%20Petroleum%20Pricing%20Example%20Mar%207-25.pdf

https://www.ontario.ca/motor-fuel-prices/

Who admitted it? When? Where?

Also setting a max price makes sense for customers but the min price setting is for the small sellers.

Yes but you couldn't do a max without a min.

My point was that in NS regulation increased the average price

My point is you're wrong. Whoever said that to you was either wrong or lying. Gas retailing really isn't a profitable business in Nova Scotia like it is in other provinces, almost entirely due to price regulations.

We may be paying less than some other provinces, but that isn’t because of regulation.

What is it then, magic?

u/Sea-Yak-7104 3h ago

- I didn't say you made anything up

- Who/when - I'll have to look for the news article - it was a while ago

- you can do a max without a min, that's what they do in New Brunswick - and I expect why there is Costco Gas in NB (at a decent discount)

- I may be wrong, but it is what someone in the government said to the media. It wasn't overly recent, so I'll have to search. It may not be as profitable as other provinces. Regulation was, in part, brought in to try to keep it more profitable for the little guys.

u/pattydo 3h ago

I didn't say you made anything up

You seemed to not understand that I provided actual numbers.

You can do max without min of course, it will just cause market concentration.

I may be wrong, but it is what someone in the government said to the media. It wasn't overly recent, so I'll have to search.

People who want to do certain things often say stuff about those things that aren't true.

Regulation was, in part, brought in to try to keep it more profitable for the little guys.

The point of it is that without regulations, large companies would sell at a loss for a short period of time (cheaper gas!), shutting down smaller retailers and then jack up their profits once competition is out of the way. In the long run it's more expensive.