The pinch at the pumps is being felt right across the country. Average prices last week ranged from $1.10 per litre in Montreal to $1.14 in Edmonton and $1.19 in Newfoundland. Here in Nova Scotia we are within that range; paying about $1.17.

In British Columbia, the price is similar to ours - with one major difference. Price swings can be up to a nickel per day in Vancouver. BC's Liberal government does not regulate gasoline prices. Many drivers are crossing the border for their gas; not to Alberta, but to the United States, contributing their tax dollars there instead of at home.

Here, in Nova Scotia, drivers feel the same pinch at the pumps but they are not subject to the same volatility. Drivers know they can buy gas in the morning and not see a different price posted by the time they drive home from work. One year into regulation, prices are more uniform and less volatile. The number of small gasoline retailers in rural communities is stable, not dropping, as it did under the free market.

Even the newly elected Liberal governments in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island see the value of the regulated gasoline market legislated by the Progressive Conservative governments before them. Both Liberal leaders made tax cut promises during election campaigns then realized only regulation could protect consumers from having any potential savings at the pump diverted to industry profit margins.

Stephen McNeil, Nova Scotia's third party opposition leader, wants to end the protection regulation offers consumers and our rural communities. He's also calling for a drastic cut to the Motive Fuel Tax, a fixed tax that has nothing to do with regulation. It's a short-sighted policy designed for political gain at Nova Scotia's expense.

What McNeil is not telling you is this : His policy might put small change in some pockets now, but it will certainly rob millions from programs and services we all need.

The Liberal plan would cost $68 million dollars. McNeil suggests that money would come from the government surplus and therefore would not affect programs and services. Not true.

Right now legislation requires that any government surplus be applied directly to the provincial debt. (A policy the Liberals supported by unanimously voting for the last two Progressive Conservative Budgets).

McNeil's plan to cut the Motive Fuel Tax would decrease the size of any surplus which would reduce the amount available to pay on the debt. Higher debt-servicing costs would divert money from programs and capital expenditures.

Make no mistake; the Liberals would have to cut somewhere to find the $46.6 million raised by the Motive Fuel Tax. One-hundred percent of that tax currently goes to maintaining safe roads and bridges; something virtually every community in this province has identified as a priority.

So where exactly would the Liberals like to cut? Maybe my government's plan to add 830 Long-Term Care beds? Or maybe the Liberals are targeting my government's $137 million Early Learning and Child Care program?

More than likely, the Liberals have their sights set on the Your Energy Rebate Program. That's the 8 percent rebate equivalent to Nova Scotia's portion of the HST; a $68 million dollar savings shared by every consumer who pays a heating bill. It's the same program Liberals opposed in the legislature.

My government knows that when we offer tax relief to Nova Scotians, we must be smart and we must be selective. We must be certain that any break benefits many, not a few. It must not come at the expense of our commitment to free Nova Scotia from the strain of the province's current $12.4 billion debt.

Nova Scotians work hard for every cent we earn. This government respects that. It's the motivation behind our on-going battle to secure 100% of our offshore revenues as promised in the Atlantic Accord. Nova Scotians will continue to do the hard work. All the federal government must do is keep its promise.