ST. JOHN, NEW BRUNSWICK - New Brunswick??s convenience store owners called on provincial officials earlier this week to reexamine the province??s regulated pricing system, saying it allows for too little profit and as such, is forcing many businesses to close, the Telegraph-Journal reports.

"The system is broken," said Alex Scholten, president of the Canadian Convenience Stores Association. "We cannot continue on this basis. The province has to look at this."

According to Scholten, prior to the province??s gas regulations, which were introduced in 2006, there were 532 gasoline stations in New Brunswick, while today there are 438, a 17 percent reduction. Most of the closures are happening in rural communities.

"We support government's commitment to price stability for motor and heating fuels for residents of New Brunswick," Scholten said. "But at the same time we are very concerned for the financial viability of New Brunswick's retail gasoline operators under the current regulated system."

The association said prior to price regulations, retailers earned up to a five percent profit margin on fuel. Today, that number is as low as two percent.

Convenience store operators have called for an immediate increase in the allowable profit margin for gasoline and for the government to establish a sustainability task force to review the industry.

"Many of my colleagues are hanging on by their fingernails," said Brian LeBlanc, owner of Point Park Petro Canada in Riverview. "We have tried to get into other things, be it coffee sales or snow removal, just to try and subsidize the business??But we are getting tired and frustrated and we are running out of options."