NDP’s Eby promises gas tax cut and ‘price guard’ to stop corporate ‘gouging’ at pumps
Published 11:29 am Thursday, October 1, 2026
BC NDP leader David Eby was in Surrey on Thursday (Oct. 1) with an election promise to suspend the provincial motor fuel tax by 10 cents a litre as part of a two-part effort to help protect drivers from rising prices at the pumps.
His pledge, called a temporary fix amid a tariff fight with the U.S., also includes a “price guard” to empower BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) to enforce “strict pricing rules and cap excess industry margins” at a time when regular gas sells for close to $2 a litre in Surrey and around $2.70 a litre for diesel.
Eby, flanked by Surrey-area NDP candidates in a Fleetwood parking lot next to a Shell gas station, says his plan would save drivers up to 30 cents a litre and as much as $20 on every tank of gas.
With a “price guard” concept, similar to one used in Atlantic provinces for decades, the NDP would would direct the BCUC to set the maximum prices that retail stations in the province can charge for gasoline and diesel.
He says “corporate price gouging” has cost British Columbians an estimated $865 million in added fuel costs since the start of the U.S.-Iran war.
“Big oil and gas companies have been exploiting conflicts overseas to make record profits, leaving ordinary drivers and truckers paying the price every time they fill up,” charged Eby. “Our plan to lower gas prices puts up to $100 back in your budget every single month for a typical two-car family in Surrey.”
The NDP’s gas tax cut promise would cost the B.C. government close to $280 million through to April 2027, “while maintaining funding for public transit and upgrades to B.C.’s roads and highways,” according to a news release detailing the campaign promise.