Invasive and toxic hammerhead worms make themselves at home in Ontario
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Canadians should prepare themselves for an expensive summer at the pumps as the price of oil continues to skyrocket, with one analyst warning that a $2 per litre price tag may become a common occurrence in many regions.
The warning comes after months of record-high price fluctuations driven by post-pandemic demand for fuel and a decrease in supply, and compounded further by sanctions on Russian oil handed down in March.
And while Canadians may have grown used to volatile price swings over the last few months, analysts say Easter weekend price jumps are setting the stage for an even more unpredictable summer market.
Gas prices per litre in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), for example, are set to soar Saturday, jumping from an average of 173.9 cents to 185.9 cents at most gas stations—representing a spike of 23 cents in just 72 hours.
“Twenty-three cents per litre increase in the last 72 hours… that’s a rate that I’ve never seen before, it’s unprecedented and it does not bode very well for the summer,” Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, told CP24 Friday.
McTeague says the jump is due, in part, to the switch from winter to summer gasoline—a yearly event that typically drives prices up.
Winter gasoline uses butane, which is cheaper to produce and ignite engines more quickly in colder temperatures. Summer blends, on the other hand, use alkylates, materials more often found in premium gas.
This switch usually costs consumers five to eight cents more per litre.
“The kind of gasoline you get tends to change from April 15 to September 15. It’s been around for the past 30 years. There’s always a seven or eight-cent premium attached to that,” explained McTeague, noting that regions like the GTA will likely see an average of $1.80 to $1.90 at the pumps over the summer months.
“We will see, mark my words, $2 a litre on several days throughout the summer this year.”
McTeague says that many factors are compounding the price at the pumps, from a weak Canadian dollar and less investment in traditional fuel sources.
But he warns that summer prices could be driven even higher should there be any other disruptions to fuel production or distribution globally, such as a hurricane or pipeline disruptions.
“We’re into a new era,” he said. “The Canadian dollar is not responding to higher oil prices, a function of the fact that we’re not building pipelines to markets that desperately need Canadian oil and we have tax upon tax that has been heaped on… all of these things are contributing to make a bad situation worse.”
This story has been updated to display Saturday's expected gas price hike in the Greater Toronto Area in cents per litre.
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Ontario is introducing a suite of measures that will crack down on cellphone use and vaping in schools.
One person has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a man who fell from a balcony following an altercation inside a Toronto apartment building.
Ukraine's troops have been forced to make a tactical retreat from three villages in the embattled east, the country's army chief said Sunday, warning of a worsening battlefield situation as Ukrainian forces wait for much-needed arms from a huge U.S. aid package to reach combat zones.
Zendaya and castmates Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor have been on a globetrotting press tour to get the word out about Italian director Luca Guadagnino's original film, which opened in 3,477 locations in the U.S. and Canada.
Dozens of people raised their arms in the fascist salute and shouted a fascist chant during ceremonies Sunday to honor Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on the 79th anniversary of his execution.
U.S. President Joe Biden is out to win votes by scoring some laughs at the expense of Donald Trump, unleashing mockery with the goal of getting under the former president's thin skin and reminding the country of his blunders.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall for a specific chocolate brand sold in Ontario and Quebec.
Laurentian University's board of governors approved a budget of just over $201.7 million for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”