Cape Breton food truck bears the brunt of high food and fuel costs

It's just the second year Papa Eli's food truck in Glace Bay, N.S., has been in operation, but 2022 has come with added costs.

“Oil when we first started went from $25 to $58 right now. Everything has gone through the roof,” said owner Kyle White.

White says making a profit without transferring the cost to the customer has been challenging.

“We did have to actually jack our prices up a little bit to off-set some of the prices,” said White.

The cost of gas and diesel is driving prices up on just about everything.

“There's no industry that has not been affected by the price of gas and diesel. There's not an industry out there, everyone depends on it,” said Cape Breton University professor George Karaphillis.

Karaphillis says the pandemic, war in Ukraine and labour shortages are behind the price increases.

He says governments could relieve some of the financial strain by removing the taxes on gas.

“Most governments are running deficits, so that's the last thing they're thinking of is reducing taxes, but that's one thing they could do. It's a possibility,” said Karaphillis.

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston wouldn't commit to removing taxes at the pumps, only saying the province is looking at innovative ways to support residents.

“We're talking to our neighbouring provinces; we're talking to the federal government about what's possible. If we can do something to support Nova Scotians we will do it. We understand the pressure this is putting on them,” he said.

For now there has been little action from the province, with the price of gas set to be adjusted in Nova Scotia at midnight Thursday.