Interesting poll in the Star yesterday. Here’s the lead:

MONTREAL: Almost half of Canadians wanted to see their petroleum resources and their gas companies nationalized as fuel prices hit record levels, a new poll suggests.

The Leger Marketing telephone survey of 1,500 people was conducted between Aug. 24 and Aug. 31, the bulk being done before the devastating effects of hurricane Katrina were felt.

No doubt this will lead to even more saber rattling in Alberta and more talk of a new NEP.

My view? The higher gas prices go, the better. Prices in Canada are still far lower than Europe and the only way we’ll ever get people to reduce their fuel consumption is by higher prices at the pump.

That said, energy use and gas prices have traditionally had a lot of impact at voters come election time, so there’s definitely some room for any of the parties to make huge political gains with an appealing policy on this.