Desperately need new energy strategy
I’ve been listening with great interest to the talking bobbleheads who drone on about the rising cost of living, especially at the grocery store checkouts and at the gas pumps.
I can appreciate the distress inflation in both of these areas brings to the average Canadian. It cost me almost $50 to fill a jug with gas for my lawnmower. Anyone who, perforce, commutes to and from work by car must be experiencing financial difficulties.
But I have noticed that everyone seems to be ignoring the elephant in the room. “Winter is coming,” to quote a popular television series, and we will all have to think about how we will heat our houses when it arrives.
In 2018, (the last figures I can obtain) 52 per cent of residential homes in Nova Scotia were heated with oil. At the present price of $2.25 per litre (excluding GST), this is going to be an enormous expense and hardship for these people.
Consider that the maximum income for someone with only Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement is about $1,600 per month. Their entire monthly income will buy them only 600 litres of fuel — about the average fill-up for each delivery.
Last September, I started the heating season with about that size delivery. It cost me about $700 with GST. At the current rates (and we can be pretty sure they will rise this winter), it would cost me $1,550 for the same amount of furnace oil. Doesn’t leave much from a monthly income for other essentials, does it?
All these price increases in food and gasoline are being blamed on the Russia-Ukraine war. I have no doubt at least some increases are. But to my knowledge, Canada receives no petroleum from either country. Yet despite having the world’s third-largest oil reserves, Canada imports oil from foreign suppliers. Currently, more than half the oil used in Quebec and Atlantic Canada is imported from foreign sources, including the U.S., Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Azerbaijan, Nigeria and Ivory Coast. The question is why?
Canada is currently the largest supplier of oil to the U.S. In 2019, Canada exported more than 3.7 million barrels per day of oil to the U.S. Canada has the oil and gas resources to be self-sufficient, but the notion of building a separate energy market kind of flies in the face of pretty much everything that we’ve done economically for the past 50 years.”
Perhaps the federal and provincial governments should rethink this strategy. Because leaving this up to the private sector is not doing Canadians much good.
And perhaps when Canadians begin to freeze and go hungry this winter, the survivors will decide to make some changes in the governments that have allowed this disgraceful situation to occur through decades of inaction.
Clifford King, Clementsport
Put lid on food costs
I noticed in your June 22 edition the article about Sobeys’ parent company and the increased profit that they have seen in the last earnings quarter, allowing them to boost dividends by 10 per cent.
Now, perhaps I am wrong, but I have also seen prices in their stores rise an equal amount, if not more, over the same period.
While I appreciate that businesses must raise prices to remain viable, at this time when budgets are tight for everyone, I’d like to think that they could take a leadership role in helping all to have access to healthy food options — at an affordable price.
Karen Jones, Dartmouth
Awash in profits
Sobeys’ parent company, Empire Co., recently made a shameful, disgusting profit of $178.5 million for shareholders. Sales jumped by 13.3 per cent in the last quarter.
Empire president and CEO Michael Medline’s salary is $13,035,685 million per year. Employee benefits are negligible. Please pass me the tequila.
Helmuth Wiegert, Dartmouth
Redeem away!
The recent Sobeys announcement that it will end its affiliation with the Air Miles program is a sign of the times.
It likely became expensive for Sobeys as users started redeeming their saved Air Miles cash rewards to help fight inflation. This decision to end the program by August could lead to even more redemptions as collectors rush to meet the deadline. Why not? It means those who have been saving these rewards for years can now be compensated for their efforts. What better way to use Air Miles than on groceries, given these high food prices?
Another target for redemption for Air Miles savers is Irving. There are currently no plans to end the latter’s affiliation, which is good news. With these high prices at the pumps, it will spell welcome relief for those who’ve wisely been collecting these rewards points. “Redeem away!” is my new mantra.
John Moore, Halifax
Driven to distraction
I find it really interesting how, whenever our federal government gets in trouble with the public over issues fundamental to our daily lives such as food and gas prices, health care, public safety, etc., all of a sudden, the conservative boogeyman magically appears out of the woodwork. Issues like gun control, abortion, the death penalty and same-sex marriage somehow become the focus of public attention. Perhaps it is just a coincidence.
Jim Inglis, Halifax
