Berwick gas flowing cheaper - finally

BY NANCY KELLY

Kings County Register

A campaign promise made by a Berwick town councillor has translated into more competitive gas prices at the pumps in town.

At Berwick’s October 28 committee of the whole meeting, returning councillor Gary Whittier expressed a concern he heard while campaigning door-to-door for the recent municipal election. “On many occasions, I had people ask me why gas consistently costs more in Berwick than in Kingston or New Minas,” said Whittier, adding “people are making gas purchases out of town because they can get it generally two cents cheaper east or west (of Berwick).”

Whittier admitted he didn’t have the answers voters were looking for, but promised to raise the issue at council.

When contacted by The Kings County Register October 30 about the price discrepancy, Roxanne Veinotte, franchisee of Berwick’s Needs Convenience store and Irving gas bar, confirmed Whittier’s comments. “He is right - people are uphappy the price is generally higher in Berwick. I get an earful about it every single day.”

Prior to October 30, Veinotte had no authority to lower her price at the pumps to be competitive with nearby service stations. “I had to wait for Irving to call me and tell me to change the price,” explained Veinotte.

However, a call placed by Veinotte that same day to her distributor has since resulted in a change to her price-change protocol. “This had made my year, let me tell you,” said Veinotte, who also operates the Sobey’s Fast Fuel in Coldbrook. “I now have the authority to lower my prices to be competitive with my Coldbrook station,” which is priced competitively with the Irving Big Stop in New Minas.

As soon as she got the okay from her distributor to regulate her price, Veinotte dropped the price of regular self-serve gas by two cents per litre, in line with prices at stations in Coldbrook and Kingston.

The Petro Canada station across the street quickly followed suit. Calls to John Ives, who operates that station, were not returned by press time.

Western Kings Board of Trade president Terri Gale applauded Veinotte for challenging her suppliers in reaction to the pricing inquiry. “This is good news from a buy local perspective, which is critical to every business in town,” said Gale. She added the situation should also remind consumers they can affect market changes. “Consumers have the power to move mountains, one grain of sand at a time.”

Whittier is also pleased with the results of the inquiry. “Keeping every dollar we can here in Berwick is really important to our economy and it’s also great to see a local business being responsive to the public.”