MP Patrick Weiler is calling for a fresh examination of gasoline prices in the Sea to Sky corridor and on the Sunshine Coast, questioning why motorists often pay prices comparable to Metro Vancouver without its additional transit fuel tax.
In a September 9 letter to the BC Utilities Commission, included in Squamish council’s October 6 agenda, Weiler asks the regulator to investigate current fuel prices, retail margins and competition, and whether earlier concerns about local pricing persist.
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Weiler says the commission’s previous analysis found that Squamish gasoline prices were less responsive to changes in wholesale costs than prices in Vancouver. It also identified higher retail margins in communities with less competition, including Squamish and Whistler, he writes.
According to his letter, earlier analysis found local fuel prices could not always be fully explained by differences in underlying supply costs, despite the Sea to Sky operating within a larger, integrated market with Metro Vancouver.
Weiler points to the difference in taxation as a reason for closer scrutiny. Metro Vancouver motorists pay an 18.5-cent-per-litre TransLink fuel tax that does not apply in the Sea to Sky or Sunshine Coast, he notes, yet prices in those regions have frequently matched or exceeded Metro Vancouver’s.
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He wants the commission to determine how much of the price at the pump reflects supply, transportation and distribution costs, and how much may be attributable to retail margins, market concentration or other factors.
Limited transportation alternatives make the issue particularly significant for households and businesses, Weiler says. Many residents have no practical alternative to driving, making fuel prices “a significant affordability issue” for families, workers and businesses, he writes.
His request also calls for an examination of whether savings from a temporary suspension of the federal gasoline excise tax reached consumers. The letter identifies the reduction as 10 cents per litre beginning April 20, 2026, and asks how quickly and fully retail prices responded in the two regions compared with Metro Vancouver and other B.C. markets.
On the Sunshine Coast, Weiler wants the regulator to distinguish between costs associated with supplying a ferry-dependent region and the effects of limited competition. He cites the region’s relatively small number of fuel retailers and residents’ reliance on Highway 101 for work, healthcare, education and essential services.
The letter also connects fuel-price transparency with discussions about future transportation funding. Weiler says any consideration of an additional motor fuel tax to support regional transit should be informed by a current understanding of existing prices and retail margins.
His proposed examination would cover wholesale and retail prices, how quickly pump prices respond to wholesale changes, competition in individual communities, and comparisons among the Sea to Sky, Sunshine Coast, and Metro Vancouver.
Weiler asks the commission to build on its earlier work under the Fuel Price Transparency Act and offers to provide additional information and community feedback.
“Residents deserve confidence that the prices they pay at the pump reflect a fair, transparent and competitive market,” he writes.
