Gas prices to hit seven-year high in GTA

Canadians can soon expect the price of gas to rise significantly. According to the Toronto Sun, analyst Dan McTeague said, "Nothing is stopping these prices from pushing to $1.50 per litre in the next few weeks."

According to McTeague, Tuesday was a volatile day for the energy markets, with natural gas rising nearly 15 percent in anticipation of the cold winter months. He noted the last time prices were this high was June 21, 2014, when a litre of regular unleaded sold for 143.9 cents.

"At that time, oil was trading for $109 per barrel," said McTeague. "It's now, it's just $79.80, so the question is, how come?" He added: "We're not selling enough oil, and the oil that we are selling is shut in, thanks to pipeline blockages," referencing the country's ongoing anti-pipeline campaign. And with warnings on energy futures eyeing WTI's return to $100 per barrel, prices could be on the rise well into 2022.

He noted the reason for higher prices is high taxes and a weak Canadian dollar. "It's only 125 pennies to buy a U.S. dollar," said McTeague. "When we last saw these prices, the Canadian dollar was more like $1.10." He added: "Given the weakness of the Canadian dollar, and because we block pipelines in this country as policy, that would add almost immediately 22 to 23 cents per litre."

McTeague also noted this wouldn't only affect vehicle owners. "You can fool around with gasoline and say, 'hey, it's for big fat cats that want to drive around in their vehicles,' but what do you about diesel for transit or natural gas to keep the economy humming along?" he said.