'Something's got to give': New Brunswick gas prices fuel holiday concerns

Gas prices jumped 7.8 cents overnight in New Brunswick, to $1.85 per litre. That's the highest price since August, after it hit more than $2 per litre this summer.

"I have four children. Between the price of gas and the price of groceries, I'm robbing Peter to pay Paul, which I was doing beforehand anyways,” said Jolene Adams while standing at a gas pump. “It's almost impossible because in order to live, you have to have both parents working, but you have to pay for gas, you have to pay for groceries. Something's got to give.”

"It is what it is,” said Nik Carrier, who commutes 45 minutes to and from work. “It’s difficult. I don't drive a big gas guzzler and it makes me want to switch to an electric car,” Carrier said.

When gas prices went through the roof in the summer, the province of New Brunswick stepped in to help some low-income earners.

"In the not too distant future, I don't know the exact date yet, but we'll be introducing legislation on the Petroleum Pricing Act to help us homogenize pricing with the Atlantic provinces,” Minister of Natural Resources and Development Mike Holland told reporters Thursday.

Holland says there are a number of initiatives government is working on to put money back in the wallets of New Brunswickers, but not necessarily the food and fuel program that the province created for relief in the summer.

The opposition is concerned that in the meantime, with gas prices once again on the rise, the cost of living won't be manageable for many New Brunswickers.

"You can feel the anxiety coming up because obviously it's not just the gas prices going up -- it's food, it's lodging, and now with the rent cap that's going to come to an end at the end of the year, people are getting concerned,” said Liberal MLA Keith Chaisson. “Obviously it's Christmas, it's that time of the year, so it's additional stress put on the people of New Brunswick.”

"I think what we need to see is an extension of the food and fuel benefits that government has put together as something that should be available monthly to those who are on low-income,” N.B. Green Party leader David Coon said.

Heading into the holiday season, seeing prices rise on one more necessity is stressful for families.

"We've already told our kids not to expect a whole lot because we can't. We just can't do it,” Adams said. “We've either got to put food on the table or Christmas for them, so it's nothing fun unfortunately.”

Diesel and home heating fuel both went up by more than 17 cents a litre.