Haldimand "McGuinty where is our Gas Tax?"

I had a conversation a few days ago with Dianne Scott from Dunnville. For those who don't know Dianne she was instrumental in the Dunnville area in collecting names for a transportation petition that Toby Barrett introduced to the legislature.

During our conversation we were talking about the "gas tax" funds that Haldimand County receives each year. I had told Dianne that I had been at Council and I knew for a fact that we were receiving "gas tax" funds from the government that goes into our "roads reserve". What I didn't realize until Dianne called me back the next day was that we receive "zero" "gas tax" from the Province of Ontario!

Dianne took the time to call the new treasurer of Haldimand County and ask a few questions, one question was; do we receive "gas tax" funds from the Province? The treasurer informed Dianne that we only receive "gas tax" funds from the "Federal Government".

McGuinty promised the residents of Ontario that if he were re-elected as Premier he would make sure that his government was a "Fair" government! Well it seems that what is "Fair" government to McGuinty only includes just about "100" Municipalities when it comes to the "gas tax" that every one of us that drive pay at the pumps.

So I have a solution to this problem, Haldimand County along with the other "300" or so Municipalities that do not receive "gas tax' funding from the Province of Ontario should formally request that 14.7 cents per litre be deducted from the price of our gas immediately.

This is what I call "Fair Government".

Thanks to dedicated people like Dianne that go the extra mile!

So much for "McGuinty" and his "Promises" to deliver "Fair" government in Ontario!

Here is a news release I found while doing some research;

For immediate release
January 9, 2008

McGuinty gas tax funding leaves Haldimand, Norfolk at the curb
Rural residents miss the bus....again

Simcoe-Despite paying the same 14.7 cents a litre provincial gas tax as all other Ontarians, Haldimand and Norfolk residents continue to wait at the back of the line when it comes to gas tax funding.

At the end of 2007, the Ministry of Transportation announced $314 million in gas tax funding to 108 municipalities across the province - neither Haldimand nor Norfolk were included.

"This is yet another slap in the face for all those in our area who pay out gas taxes year after year," levelled Barrett. "We have the same needs for transportation services to access medical services, get to appointments, and visit family, we pay the same taxes, and yet we're left empty-handed while government gives our money to meet other - more urban - transit needs."

In the Spring, Barrett tabled petitions in the Ontario Legislature with over 1,075 Dunnville area signatures, requesting government "investigate the establishment of connecting public transit links between Haldimand county and Norfolk county communities and outlying municipalities, as well as to establish a mechanism to ensure rural municipalities receive the full benefit of the gas tax transit initiative."

During the recent provincial election, the Ontario PC party proposed that every penny of provincial gas and fuel taxes be allocated for roads, bridges and transit across the province. Currently, all gas tax money goes into the general revenue pot, and Queen's Park spends only part of that revenue on what it's being raised for - for example, the McGuinty Government spends $1.9 billion of the $3.1 billion worth of gas taxes on roads bridges and transit.

Meantime, Barrett went on to highlight the work of the The Haldimand and Norfolk Rural Transportation Initiative, titled "Spinning your Wheels".

"It's heartening to see the people in our area working toward solutions for our rural transportation needs," stated Barrett. "I fear that without some real support from the Ontario Government - beyond one-time Trillium grants - we will all be, as the title suggests, 'spinning our wheels'."

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For more information, please contact MPP Toby Barrett
at (519) 428-0446 or 1-800-903-8629