Canadian Taxpayers Federation holds publicity stunt to highlight fuel taxes

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FREDERICTON - Francis Morissette got an unexpected break when he pulled up to the gas pump yesterday -- he got his taxes back.

The Fredericton resident had just topped up his tank for $100 worth of fuel when John Williamson, director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, offered to reimburse him for the $29 in taxes he had just paid.

"That's amazing," said Morissette. A typical stop at the gas station usually costs him a bit more than $100, he said.

Morissette was one of a handful of local drivers who were surprised by Williamson at the Esso at the corner of Prospect and Smythe streets as part of the lobby group's tenth annual Gas Tax Honesty Day.

Williamson, a former Frederictonian, decided to set an example for government and give motorists back some of their hard-earned cash.

With taxes accounting for 29 per cent of the cost of fuel, he said government should be addressing the situation.

Morissette said he was amazed by the amount motorists are paying in taxes at the pump.

"I had a notion that it was about 30 per cent," he said. "It's disheartening to see it go."

Williamson said plenty of Canadian families are under a crush from rising fuel prices.

He wants the federal and provincial governments to take steps to cut gas prices by five cents a litre.

"Federal lawmakers tend to point the finger at the big oil companies when prices go up without acknowledging what they can do to bring prices down," he said.

The same is true for provincial legislators, he said.

The cost of taxes assessed on other taxes alone is equivalent to 2.7 cents a litre, he said.

The gouging doesn't stop there, he said. "The government continues to charge a 1.5-cent deficit elimination tax. The deficit was eliminated in 1987.

"A decade later here we are still paying the deficit elimination tax."

More than $6 billion has flowed into government coffers from the tax since the deficit was paid down, he said.

Part of the problem for Canadians is that many of the taxes are built into the price of gas. While your bill tells you how much HST you have just paid, it doesn't identify the combined 21 cents that the federal and provincial governments are levying on every litre of gas.

While some might think all the taxes they're paying on gas go to fixing roads, Williamson said that isn't so.

Williamson said the federal government has dedicated more gas tax revenue to roads and highways in the past three budgets. The group says Ottawa spent 37 per cent of its gas tax revenue on roads this year, an amount that will increase to 52 per cent next year.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Tuesday in the House of Commons that the federal government has no plans to reduce gas taxes.

"We already reduced the cost of gasoline by two per cent (through) the reduction of the GST," Flaherty said.

The Department of Finance estimates Canadians will save $550 million per year on gas thanks to the GST cut.