Quebec moves to ditch floor price on gasoline, make retail market more competitive [Video]

Quebec plans to remove the floor price on gasoline and other fuels, Economy Minister Christine Fréchette announced Monday in a news release.

“Our goal … is to improve competition so that Quebecers pay less for their gas,” Fréchette said in the release, adding that the move will also help protect the economy and consumers.

A floor price is the lowest legal price that can be paid in a market for goods and services.

In Quebec, the floor price for gas was written into Quebec’s Petroleum Products Act and was introduced in the 1990s.  It was intended to prevent larger players in the gas market from undercutting smaller players.

The current mechanism, the news release reads,”limits competition between retailers and, as a result, leads to higher prices in the long term.”

“It no longer has its place,” said Fréchette’s parliamentary assistant, Samuel Poulin.

The government also wants to boost transparency around …