Quebec motorist launches lawsuit against gas price-fixers

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against several gasoline retailersaccused of fixing prices at the pumps.

Documents seeking permission to sue were filed in a Quebec court on Friday, a day after Canada's Competition Bureau announced it has charged 11 companies and 13 people for alleged price-fixing.

Three of the companies and one individual a former Ultramar employee pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of price fixing.

That guilty admission will make it easier for the lawsuit to proceed, said David Bourgouin, a Quebec City lawyerleading the legal action, which was initiated by an unidentified Quebec motorist.

People who sign on to the lawsuit probably won't be entitled to large amounts of money if the case goes ahead, he said.

And it may take several years to settle, Bourgouin said on Friday.

Suspects allegedly set prices by phone

The companies and suspects targeted by the Competition Bureau's three-yearinvestigation operated gas stations in Victoriaville, Thetford Mines, Magog and Sherbrooke.

Operators at the stations allegedly called each other to set prices whenever the cost of gas would rise in larger urban centres such asMontreal and Quebec City.

The bureau relied on informants, searches and wiretaps to collect evidence in their case, which is still ongoing in other Canadian provinces, said commissionerSheridan Scott.

The stations were run under the banners of Ultramar, Shell, Esso, Petro-Canada and Irving Oil, althoughScott stressed that operators were singled out as allegedly participating in price collusion.

Ultramar was fined $1.85 million, and Les Ptroles Thrrien Inc. and Distributions Ptrolires Thrrien were fined a combined $179,000.

One Ultramar employeeJacques Ouellet has pleaded guilty so far, andwas fined $50,000.

Ultramar feels 'betrayed' by employee

Ultramar will not contest the charges but insisted the alleged scheme was the work of a renegade employee, not part of a wider scam.

"This is not a national conspiracy, but rather a situation that has happened on a regional scale involving a sales representative," said Ultramar spokesman Louis Forget.

"Investigations by the Competition [Bureau] has proved that no members of Ultramar management were involved in this matter."

The petrol company feels betrayed by the employee's actions, he said.

Quebec law on gas prices opposed by opposition: premier

Quebec Premier Jean Charest said his government has tried to force gas companies to explain their prices for more than a year but only the federal government has the ability to stop price-fixing.

The Liberal government tabled legislation last year that would oblige petroleum companies to justify price increases.

The legislation was defeated by the Action Dmocratique du Qubec and the Parti Qubcois.

The ADQ criticized Charest for not doing more to fight price-fixing within the province.

Ottawa 'won't tolerate high gas prices'

The Conservative government says it "won't tolerate high gas prices" in the wake of charges of price-fixing in four Quebec markets.

Colin Carrie, the junior Industry minister, said the federal Competition Bureau has more investigations taking place across the country.

But opposition MPsquestioned the Tory commitment, saying more must be done to ensure there's no collusion among major oil-and-gas companies.

New Democrat MP Paul Dewar said the charges were akin to nabbing the "the lookout guys on the street corner for the bigger dealers."

Dewar wants to give the Competition Bureau more powers, and also to create a federal ombudsman to monitor gas prices.

Liberal MP Bob Rae dryly observed that gas prices have almost doubled since the Conservatives came to power, so the government's tolerance for price increases seems quite high.

Competitive pricing is different than illegal collusion: petrol industry

The petrol industry says there's a big difference between fierce competition and illegal collusion.

Ted Stoner, a spokesman for the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute, said gasoline retailers tend to rely on the same low-tech methods that Canadian drivers use while hunting for bargains in today's high price environment.

In other words, they look up at those big price-per-litre signs out front of their competitors' gas stations and make sure their price is close.

"That's all the dealers are doing they're keeping watch on their competition," he said from Calgary.

"You can't collude, you can't enter into some form of agreement and say, `if you post x, I'll post x and let's keep it there for a while."

Stoner said the profit margins for selling gasoline have been "extremely low" between zero and five cents per litre for years, even before fixed costs are factored in.

That's why most gas stations offer other value-added things,such asconvenience stores and car washes, he said.