How empty will your wallet get if Alberta decides to turn off the taps to B.C.?

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – If Alberta decides to turn off the gas taps to B.C., should the United Conservative Party win Tuesday’s provincial election in Alberta, just how hard would we be hit?

According to numbers from the energy ministry, 65 per cent of B.C.’s total gas supply comes from across the Rockies.

Two BC refineries supply 25 per cent of what the province needs. The remaining 10 comes from the States.

UCP leader Jason Kenney has threatened to cut off our gas supply.

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Alberta’s election comes as prices on the Lower Mainland hover around the $1.70 mark.

Cranbrook’s mayor watching Alberta election closely

Meanwhile, calling his city near the border with Alberta “a playground,” Cranbrook mayor Lee Pratt is keeping an eye on who wins the election.

Pratt admits he is worried about how the outcome of the election will affect business — especially tourism — in his community. “A lot of Alberta visitors come here for golfing … hiking, camping, swimming, biking. Then, in the winter, it’s skiing. So, we are definitely their playground.”

He adds up to 500 people from Cranbrook have jobs in Alberta’s struggling oil and gas industry.

“A number of them haven’t been working — been laid off. Probably somewhere in the neighbourhood of 300 to 500 people that work in that industry and commute from here.”

 – With files from Kurtis Doering