Northern gas prices break $2 mark for first time

Drivers around the northeast said they saw a number at the gas pumps Tuesday they thought they would never encounter—prices jumping past the $2 per litre mark.

Timmins pumps saw a $2.05 price tag for a litre of regular gas, with diesel motorists reporting $2.50. Similar prices are being reported in Sudbury, North Bay and Kapuskasing.

Lately, each price jump sets a new historic record, with an especially unprecedented expense hike that some are struggling to afford.

"I'm on old-age pension, so it hurts," Raymond Lauay told CTV News as he filled up his SUV.

"With insurance as high as it is and everything else, cost of living, groceries. It's terrible."

As Jen Girard filled up her pickup truck, she said she's fortunate to be unmarried and without children, since that would likely mean higher gas costs and tighter pockets.

But she said she sympathizes with people who have to find creative ways to absorb the extra costs.

"I don't know how anybody can survive," Girard said.

"You have to take more than one job, especially if you're a single parent or just a single person living on their own. It's outrageous."

Industry analysts have been pointing to the Russia-Ukraine conflict cutting off natural gas supply, underproduction of domestic oil and a reluctance of the federal government to tap into Canada's oil reserves.

Critics suggest pipelines, stronger investment in 'green' energy sources and provincial gas price regulation would lower gas costs in the long-term.

Meanwhile, many analysts expect southern Ontario pumps to see $2 gas prices in the coming weeks, which would only hike prices in the north even higher.