Record-high gas prices force some Nova Scotians to make tough decisions

Some Nova Scotians are choosing to drive less as gas prices continue to climb.

Lynn Battiste, of Eskasoni, N.S., drives more than an hour each way to visit her mother in a nursing home where she's living with Alzheimer's.

It's a trip Battiste used to make three to four times a week, however, with the rising price of gas, she says she will be forced to cut her trips back.

"It's very heartbreaking. I cried. I cried explaining it to her," said Battiste. "But what can I do? There's not too much I can do. There's phone calls, but it's not the same."

The owner of Coastal Restaurant and Pub in Ingonish, N.S., says traffic along the Cabot Trail recently isn't what he was expecting.

"I thought, where there's sunny weather, it might bring a few more people. It's not as busy as I thought it would be," said Jason LeBlanc, who owns Coastal Restaurant and Pub.

LeBlanc says he expects business to pick up during the May long weekend, but adds, current gas prices are taking a bite out of the early part of his busy season.

"It's very frustrating actually, because we're coming out of the two worst years most businesses have ever had and dealing with a hike in everything, from insurance, to food, everything you can think of," he said. "So it's hard."

Linda Hayes with the Two Rivers Wildlife Park in Huntington, N.S., says, so far this year, the park is seeing its normal number of visitors.

However, she says if gas prices continue to go up, there is concern summer traffic will go down – something the park relies on.

"The winter is our slowest time of year, so this is the time that we bring in all the money that lets us feed the animals through the winter," she said.

Despite high gas prices across Canada and some choosing to travel less, the head of Destination Cape Breton told CTV News that traffic to their website is up 65 per cent over last year, driven mainly by traffic from Ontario and Quebec.