Claim: Anchor Fiza Riaz says a litre of petrol costs 173.9 Canadian dollars in Canada.
Fact: Petrol prices in Canada are listed in cents per litre; the anchor has falsely portrayed the price as extremely high when compared to those in Pakistan.
On 13 August 2023, Fiza Riaz — the host of PNN News’ morning show and former anchor at Dunya News — posted (archive) a selfie-style video on Instagram, talking about petrol prices in Canada and comparing them with those in Pakistan.
In the video, she says, “In Pakistan, petrol is very expensive and we curse the government all the time. However, when you travel abroad and have to pay for one litre of petrol in dollars, then you understand that living in Pakistan is like living in heaven. Here, in Canada, one litre fuel is 173.9, look at… there. You have to pay 173. For one litre, you have to give so much money.
“And there [in Pakistan], when we get it [petrol] for [PKR] 272 or 280, then we feel like the government has looted us, we have to fulfil all the conditions of the IMF [International Monetary Fund], and the levy and subsidy has been taken away from us. Here, you have to pay dollars. Still, petrol in Pakistan is cheap. Still we’re getting cheap petrol,” she adds.
Fiza Riaz also turns her camera towards the petrol station price board behind her, which shows Ultra94 by Petro-Canada available for 173.9. She claims that a litre of petrol in Canada costs CAD 173.9.
On Twitter, she posted the same video (archive) with the caption, “I couldn’t find the suitable hashtags but my information in loud n clear.” The hashtags “#PetrolDieselPrice” and “#قوم_کی_شَہ_رَگ_عمران_خان” — the latter of which translates to, “Imran Khan, the jugular vein of Pakistan” — were also added to it.
Fact or Fiction?
Ultra94 is a type of fuel available “at over 700 locations in Alberta and Ontario”, according to Petro-Canada’s website.
As per the Government of Ontario, petrol prices are “listed in Canadian cents per litre”. It also provides prices per fuel type and, as of 14 August 2023, those were 172.2, 190.3, and 198.9 cents per litre for Regular Unleaded Gasoline, Mid-Grade Gasoline, and Premium Gasoline, respectively.
For the same date mentioned above, GlobalPetrolPrices.com (archive) compares petrol prices according to currency — a litre costs CAD 1.925, US dollars (USD) 1.426, and Euro (EUR) 1.308.
The aforementioned price translates to PKR 426.40 per litre.
For a realistic comparison, petrol prices in Pakistan — as of 16 August 2023 — are PKR 290.45 a litre following a PKR-17.50 hike the previous day, as seen on the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) website here.
Virality
The tweet (archive) by Fiza Riaz has been viewed more than 71,500 times. Her Instagram video (archive) has received over 1.3 million views, 80,900 likes, 2,600 comments, and 70 shares.
A 19 August 2023 post by the Facebook page ‘PMLN gilgit baltistan’ (archive) has gained 426,000 views, 8,100 reactions, 10,000 comments, and 730 shares.
We also found the video posted here, here, and here on Facebook.
Conclusion: Petrol prices in Canada are listed in cents per litre; the anchor has falsely portrayed the price as extremely high when compared to those in Pakistan.
Background image in cover photo: Molly Statt
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