Gas Prices Forcing More To Stay Home This Long Weekend

But many who’d like to hit the road will probably be staying put during the holiday, instead of heading out of town where they really want to go.

And while the Caribana parade could be one reason they’ll remain, it’s not the only one.

Many simply aren’t willing to blow their dough on the gas required to get from here to there.

 A new survey found that 54 percent of all Canadians admit the high cost of travelling has caused them to change their plans this weekend.  

Prices in the G.T.A. hit $1.12 Thursday and those who didn’t fill up earlier in the week when a litre could still be had for just over a loonie may want to learn the never changing lesson about getting a tankful before a holiday.

“It is outrageous,” Kieran Harris fumes as he pumps a few litres into his vehicle. “Sixty, seventy dollars to fill up a tank! It makes you reconsider what your plans might be. And you may want to stay and do something more simple.”

You’ll never convince drivers like him that the oil companies don’t take advantage of the situation.

“There is demand. And when there is demand there is opportunity to raise prices and to increase profits,” points out U. of T. Strategy Professor Joseph D’Cruz. “It is not fair and unfair in business. There is only legal and illegal. What they are doing is not illegal. It was clearly legal.”

Sarah Hair admits it’s already altered her plans. “I was hoping to go out of town,” she sighs. “But that’s not happening with the gas prices right now.”

So where will they go if they don’t take part in the mass exodus? At least 41 percent will just stay home, opting to leave their cars in the garage and themselves on their backyard patio, deck or lawn chairs.

So far, they haven’t figured out a way to charge you for that.

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