Jennifer McPhee
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Mar 04/02) - Iqaluit drivers pay about nine cents more for each litre of gasoline than anyone else in Nunavut.

Coun. Glenn Williams brought the issue to city council's attention last month. He's also concerned that two of the three gas bars in Iqaluit have the same price.

Qikiqtaaluk Corporation owns two gas bars, the Beach Gas Bar and Baffin Gas Bar Ltd. Toonoonik Sahoonik Co-op in Pond Inlet owns the third, the Toonoonik Gas Bar.

Baffin Gas and Toonoonik Gas charge 92.9 cents a litre. Beach Gas charges 90.9 cents.

"I've been trying to find out what the government does to monitor price-fixing and price control. What safeguards are in place for the public?" said Williams.

"We pay more for gas than any other community. You can't help but assume there's some gouging going on."

Public Works deputy minister Ross Mrazek, who attended the city council meeting, said the gas business in Iqaluit is privately operated. The department sells gas to the Uqsuq Corporation, which sells it for a price (set by the government) to retailers.

Retailers are free to charge whatever the market stands.

In other Nunavut communities, the government controls the retail price.

According to Nino Wischnewski, manager of communications for the territorial government, no agency monitors price-fixing. Only Industry Canada's Competition Bureau investigates complaints of unfair competition.

Mrazek said the government has received no such complaints. He did say the government reduced the price of gas by seven cents a litre last November.

Scott Cooper, manager of Uqsuq Corp., said he passed on the seven cent reduction to retailers on Nov. 1.

Retail outlet Baffin Gas Bar hiked its prices by four cents two weeks earlier. Three weeks later, the bar lowered prices by four cents.

Chris West, manager of retail operations for Qikiqtaaluk Corp., said QC staff did not know the government was planning to drop prices when it increased its rate by four cents. West pointed out that QC is under no obligation to pass on the savings. "We have to maintain our profit margin to be successful," he said. "We did reduce it by four cents."

As for price-fixing, West flatly denies it. He said he adjusts gas prices according to what the competition does, but does not collaborate.

"If they go up, we go up. If they go down, we go down. That just makes sense. And anyone who doesn't understand that should take a business course."

But, added West, "as far as collaboration goes, that's illegal."

He said it is irrelevant that prices remain the same in both outlets for months. QC, he said, keeps the prices at the beach bar lower to give hunters a break.

Dave Slaney, manager of Toonoonik Sahoonik Co-op in Pond Inlet, also said the Co-op does not collaborate with the other company to decide prices.

"That's illegal, I believe," he said. "I don't even know any people who work at the other places."

Slaney said the Co-op sets prices by preparing a budget every year, forecasting gas sales and expenditures and projecting what its needs to make the operation profitable.

"For competitive reasons, every other year the gas prices were low. For three consecutive years we were in the red. This year, we set our prices. If other companies in town decide to follow our prices, there's nothing we can do about it."