The other day I chatted with my dog walker, Karly, when she dropped off my very spoiled Sharpei, Effie Trinket. After filling me in on Effie’s ongoing dog park feud with a golden doodle, Karly commented that she might be temporarily raising her rates this summer because the price of gas has gone up quite significantly in Vancouver recently. You wouldn’t think a dog walker uses a lot of fuel, but each day Karly picks up several dogs all over the city and takes them to the dog park.

Now, we’re used to having some pretty high prices in Vancouver because of all the taxes that are added on to the price of fuel. But those taxes are pretty constant so the fluctuations are likely due to other factors.

In a fortuitous coincidence (or Facebook truly can read my mind), this really informative article about all the factors that go into the price of fuel popped up in my newsfeed. In it, Jesse Johnston lays out how factors like refining capacity, provincial emission standards and the value of the Canadian dollar contribute to the changing price of gasoline. Definitely worth a read!

- Rose R.