Your Gas today, should really only have cost you 66.36 cents a litre!

While the local gas stations race for the tote board to separate us from our dollars and cents, it’s interesting to note that two separate organizations in Canada, with totally different agendas suggest that we’re getting taken advantage of in a most dastardly way.

Today was Gas Tax Honesty Day, an occasion which the Canadian Taxpayers Federation calls attention to the amount of government tax on our litres of Gasoline. According to the Federation, which believes in less government interference in our lives, the price of gas could be 33 per cent less, if only the federal and provincial governments were to walk away from the pump.

Across Canada today at selected gas stations, the Federation was rebating lucky motorists 33 cents per litre on their gas purchases, in order to provide some visual assistance to taxpayers as to just how deep the government goes into our pockets when it comes to gas.

Of course, a portion of that tax does go towards roads and highways across Canada, which the Canadian Tax Federation admits is a worthy destination for our tax dollars, the only problem seems to be the parsimonious nature of the tax money delivered compared to that collected.

Their call for a reduction in gas taxes across Canada, didn't exactly set the Federal government off to work in response to that call.

Over at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, they too are hopping mad at gas prices, but from their perspective the enemy is not Big Government, but big Oil. As we’ve recounted a few times now, they have kindly provided us with a gouge gauge which allows us to input our daily gas price fix and determine just how much extra profit the oil companies are making when the price of gas goes up.

The CCPA is probably the complete opposite of the CTF, more inclined towards government involvement in our lives than the Tax Federation might like. Yet they both seem to be of one mind on one topic, Canadians on the whole are getting shafted by somebody when it comes to gas prices.

So using both sets of calculations from the participants, we combine their calculations of 33% of the price of gas from taxes, a total of 37.5 cents with the CCPA’s gas gouge gauge, of 30.1 cents based on today’s fixed price of gas at 1.24 and well, sorry to say, but we’re apparently getting quite hosed by big business and big government. If all taxes and excessive profits were eliminated today's 1.24 per litre of gas, would turn into gas at 66 cents a litre, a long gone benchmark for gas on the north coast.

Regardless of which side of the gouging tables you read, one thing is certain, if both the government and the oil industry were to reduce their take by half, we’d be a lot happier when we head for the pumps!