An important part of the Progressive Conservative Party’s platform is to reduce gas prices for Ontarians.

The promise made headlines, and now, it’s time to make good on it. But the commitment will come at a cost.

Dropping gas prices by the promised $0.10 per litre could cost the province as much as $1.2 billion.

The removal of the 4.3 per cent cap-and-trade tax will reduce prices by $0.04 per litre, but the lost revenue for the rest of the reduction needs to come from somewhere.

According to one expert, that money will have to come from cuts to other big services.

“They usually come from big decisions, on services that have to be reduced, and that’s a big policy decision,” said Andrea Perrella, a Laurier professor of political science.

Perrella suggested that healthcare and education are two areas that are often targeted for cuts because of their large budgets.

Another important factor of reducing gas prices, though, is keeping them low.

One way the PC government could ensure this is by reducing the amount of ethanol in gas. Ethanol in a corn-based liquid added to gasoline to make it burn cleaner, but costs more than gasoline.

As the party begins its tenure as Ontario’s majority government, it is unclear when the gas price reduction is to come into effect.

With reporting from CTV Kitchener's Christina Succi and Stu Gooden.