Drivers filling up their tanks in Toronto will feel the pinch at the pumps as prices are expected to rise by 7 cents a litre by Sunday, according to one analyst. Gas prices rose by three cents on Friday, hovering at an average of $176.9 per litre. Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, predicts costs will rise by another two cents on Saturday, followed by a five-cent hike Sunday. McTeague says the weekend’s soaring prices are merely setting the stage for “even more increases” heading into Labour Day weekend. “At 183.9, it is likely we will see prices move to $1.90 a litre by next weekend as diesel contributes to remaining a dollar more a litre than at this tie last year,” McTeague said in a statement to CP24. “The pressure on the federal government to maintain its temporary suspension of the excise tax will increase given gas and diesel’s resurgence that can’t be talked down or shorted like oil.” Ottawa suspended the federal fuel excise tax on April 20 in direct response to U.S.-Iran tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz. That tax gets reinstated right after Labour Day. “Indeed, diesel, which is a major component of the supply chain touching everything, currently stands at nearly a dollar a litre more than at this time last year, despite this being the traditional seasonal low for demand,” McTeague said. As summer comes to an end and cooler weather settles in, the gas analyst says diesel prices are guaranteed to surge to record prices in the fall.
