[thorn]

Regulate? More like a warning.

N.S. moves to regulate fluctuation in pump prices CanWest News Service,Thursday, May 04, 2006:
HALIFAX -- Nova Scotia said Wednesday it will regulate gas and diesel fuel prices starting July 1. But the government of Premier Rodney MacDonald underlined that regulation will not mean that prices will fall. Instead, the aim of the Nova Scotia plan is to give motorists two weeks notice before prices at the pump can jump.

A litre of unleaded regular fuel in the province has risen in the past few days to the $1.20 mark.

But the oil companies do have some wiggle room. Under the initiative, if the price of a barrel of crude on the world oil market rises or falls significantly, companies can contact the province and ask for a break on the 14-day rule to change prices at the pump. But there has been no definition yet of what a ``significant'' shift in prices would be.

The opposition New Democrats have been calling for a regulated market for years. Under the plan, price changes would be regulated through the province's Utility and Review Board which will review regulations annually.

Provincial Municipal Relations Minister Richard Hurlburt said the province felt compelled to act to stay in line with its provincial neighbours. "Nova Scotia will soon be the only province east of Ontario that does not regulate gasoline and that's a reality we have to respond to," Hurlburt said in a release.

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