I thought there were going to be no new taxes.
By Lee Greenberg
Mired in a $16-billion deficit and facing an uncertain financial future, Ontario is turning to consumers to help it dig out of trouble.
The province announced Tuesday it will raise a range of driver fees, including licence validation, renewals, replacement, driver exam fees, trailer permits, as well as a range of other fees for commercial vehicles.
Licence-plate renewals will rise to $98 within the next three years, a 33% increase over the current $74 charged in southern Ontario (northern residents are charged a lower rate that will rise by the same percentage).
Those rates will rise to $82 on Sept. 1, officials said, and then again each year after until they reach $98 in 2015.
Transportation Minister Bob Chiarelli said the higher fees are a “thoughtful” choice that will help eliminate the deficit and help keep roads and bridges in good shape.
Mr. Chiarelli said Ontario’s drivers’ fees are among the lowest in Canada, and will continue to be middle of the pack, even after the increases.
So this money is going to infrastructure Mr. McGuinty?
http://ogca.ca/pulling-back-on-infrastructure-spending-shortsighted/
Cancelling any future infrastructure spending programs in Ontario is shortsighted and will have a devastating impact on province’s economic recovery, says Ontario General Contractor Association President Clive Thurston.
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty recently warned leaders at the Rural Ontario Municipalities Association convention that the provincial government “chose not to move forward this year with a new permanent fund for roads and bridges with the federal government.
“I have to support our economic advantage – the skills and education of our people – and sacrifice the infrastructure fund,” McGuinty said during his speech Monday in Toronto.
“Premier McGuinty’s statement, if it is followed through with policy direction in the upcoming budget, brings into question the province’s stated commitment to a 10-year infrastructure investment plan,” says OGCA President Clive Thurston.
“If this happens, we will have lost some of the cylinders of the economic engine that has been helping to drive Ontario’s recovery. Cancelling of infrastructure-specific programs will stall any momentum we have been building. It is more than a step backwards. This is stepping on the accelerator with the engine in reverse.”
Huh? This new reveue from license levies is going into general revenue.
Oh and how about this?
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/03/13/liberals-spinning-the-horse-manure
In a nasty piece of spin, Education Minister Laurel Broten sent out a release slamming the horse-racing industry and PC leader Tim Hudak.
“We simply can’t afford to support the $345 million-a-year horse-racing subsidies started by the Hudak PCs. Not when the same amount of money could get better health care for our seniors, and full-day kindergarten for our four and five year olds,” said the release.
She said Hudak’s defending, “a few wealthy race-track owners, while seniors and kindergarten students are left in the dust.”
What a pile of horse manure!
It's a bold face lie. They aren't taking money from all-day kindergarten and putting it into the pocket of racetrack owners. They are sharing slot revenue and that money creates jobs.
People are going to be jumping off this Titanic of a Province fast.
Edited by Boges, 14 March 2012 - 07:33 AM.
