Gasoline prices have jumped of late by nearly ten cents a litre. While this alone is enough to send panic and "pump rage" through most Albertans, it was recently reported prices could be upwards of $1.30 per litre before mid-September.

Not surprisingly, pundits, politicians and the press have ramped up their musings as to what "must" be done to reduce the price of gasoline for Canadian motorists.

More worrisome than the recent spike in prices is that many suggest regulating gas prices is the answer.

It's not.

Prince Edward Island has regulated their gasoline prices for years. According to analysts, MJ Ervin & Associates, historically on average -- even excluding their high provincial gas taxes -- Charlottetown, PEI residents pay higher gas prices than anyone else in urban Canada.

And the examples don't stop there. According to the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS), when Nova Scotia deregulated their gasoline prices in 1991, prices fell in-line with other comparable cities -- indicating that prices were artificially high during the regulated years.

Nova Scotia and New Brunswick both recently joined (re-joined in Nova Scotia's case) their Atlantic cousins in the regulation of gas prices.

PEI and Nova Scotia set both maximum and minimum prices, usually very close to each other, while Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick set only a maximum price. Newfoundland and Labrador set these prices once a month, while PEI, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick set their prices every two weeks.

Things have not gone smoothly in New Brunswick since regulation. Shortly after prices were regulated dozens of independent gas retailers turned off their pumps claiming that their maximum price was too low and they were losing too much money. Motorists were left stranded, running on fumes.

The State of Hawaii recently scrapped their eight-month experiment with gas price regulation after, not-surprisingly, realizing prices went up instead of down.

Some premiers, such as Nova Scotia's Rodney MacDonald claim that price regulation is not about lowering prices but rather stabilizing them. Well, mission accomplished, the regulation has admittedly kept prices consistent -- consistently high.

Motorists are only upset when prices swing wildly upwards, not downwards. Regulation in the Atlantic provinces has ensured that prices will only swing wildly upwards twice a month, and never swing downwards.

Not what most consumers were likely hoping for.

Governments in Canada should stick to what they can control and not overstep their ability by trying to control the forces of an international market.

Governments can't control the world price of oil, governments can't control the supply of gasoline, governments can't control world events, but they can control the taxes they charge on gasoline.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) has long maintained the only option for our government to reduce our gas prices is to reduce their take of gas taxes.

Depending on the price on any given day, gas taxes make up about one-third of the price of a litre of gasoline in Alberta.

The provincial government taxes nine cents per litre, the federal government taxes ten cents per litre as well as the now six per cent GST on the entire pump price (including the other provincial and federal taxes -- that's right -- they tax the other taxes!).

Angry motorists feeling "pump rage" every time they fill-up should be focusing that anger at our federal government who collects billions in gasoline taxes, yet only puts millions back into roadway building and repair each year.

Less than a year ago, when asked about gasoline taxes Stephen Harper said: "There's no reason for the federal government to profiteer when consumers are hurting."

Agreed. So let's do something about it Mr. Prime Minister.