For Immediate Release:
July 27, 2010
Simcoe: Opposition Environment Critic Toby Barrett says he’s heartened by the Environmental Commissioner’s concerns with the chaotic way in which the McGuinty Government’s rolled out the eco fee program.
The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario’s (ECO) report on the tax debacle, titled, “Getting it Right”, further pointed to the government’s failure to create incentives for manufacturers.
“The Environmental Commissioner’s report is bang on in pointing out that the eco tax provides no carrot to go along with the stick”, stated Barrett. “As I’ve been urging government for some time now, there should clearly be incentives for responsible recycling and waste diversion, including making these services as convenient as possible.
“We have always agreed that there is a place for functioning waste diversion programs but that they shouldn’t be adding further taxes.”
Barrett further pointed to Dalton McGuinty’s own admission that the Government had, “fallen short” in implementing the eco tax as another indication that he is clearly not up to the job.
“It was McGuinty’s Environment Minister who approved and now temporarily suspended these eco-taxes,” Barrett pointed out. “Quite simply, the McGuinty Liberals knew exactly what they were doing – they attempted to increase taxes and got caught. The only thing they fell short of was pulling this scheme off in its entirety.”
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For more information, please contact MPP Toby Barrett at
(519) 428-0446 or (905)-765-8413, 1-800-903-8629