Photo: The Canadian Press Natural Resources Secretary Jonathan Wilkinson speaks to a reporter after a cabinet meeting at Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS / Patrick Doyle Natural Resources Secretary Jonathan Wilkinson says the government is focusing more on stabilizing oil prices by increasing supply rather than trying to reduce prices by offering Canadians a temporary suspension of the federal gas tax. His comments come as US President Joe Biden plans to cut federal gas taxes south of the border after other measures to curb rising gas prices failed. If the Biden government follows this plan, it will make Canada the only remaining G7 country that has not recently reduced its excise duties on gas or offered a subsidy to help reduce pump prices. The United Kingdom, Italy and Germany have reduced excise duties on gasoline, while France and Japan have offered subsidies to consumers and wholesalers since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed up world oil prices. fuel, respectively. Wilkinson says there are no immediate plans for Canada to join them, noting that Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s talk of affordability last week instead showed planned increases in government bills, cuts in childcare costs and increases in the Old Age Insurance Program and Canada Workers Benefit. He says the gas tax holiday is not entirely off the table, but the government is currently working at home and abroad to increase fuel supplies in a bid to bring global oil prices back under control.
