On the Canadian Taxpayers Federation's annual "Gas Tax Honesty Day," the fiscally conservative group is calling on the government to ease the pain at the pump.
To mark the occasion, CTF representatives reimbursed the gas tax for a few lucky drivers.
"We're going to go over and make a couple of people's day," the CTF's B.C. director Gregory Thomas told reporters at a Vancouver gas station.
Metro Vancouver drivers pay a total of 44.5 cents per litre in tax, the highest rate in Canada, thanks to transit, road and carbon levies.
"A two-car family pays over $1,100 a year in gas tax. It's a major expense for people," Thomas said.
The CTF believes Prime Minister Stephen Harper should follow its lead and cut back on gas taxes.
"He takes all this tax that the province and the federal governments charge -- the excise tax, the carbon tax, the transit tax -- then he charges GST on it. So we're paying tax on a tax on a tax; it sounds like a Dr. Seuss rhyme," Thomas said.
There are possibilities for the B.C. government to crack down on high gas prices. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia both have something called an interrupter clause that allows the province to step in and lower prices if gas gets to expensive.
The clause was invoked for the first time last week, and New Brunswick's gas price went down by 10 cents per litre, while Nova Scotia's fell by eight cents.
But B.C. Finance Minister Kevin Falcon isn't sold on the idea.
"I'd have to do a lot more homework before I'd be convinced that's the way to go," he told CTV News. "Generally, when government gets involves in trying to regulate prices, it doesn't turn out to be a positive story for consumers at the end of the day."
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Shannon Paterson
