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As part of its 13th annual Gas Tax Honesty Day, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) called on the federal government today to pass legislation to ensure all taxes collected at gas pumps are actually put back into roads.

“People need to call their MPs and tell them they want a law passed requiring all tax dollars collected at the pumps to be spent on road work,” said CTF Prairie Director Colin Craig. “As of late, the feds have been spending roughly the same amount they collect in gas taxes on road work, but there is nothing preventing them from turning back the clock.”

“One of the reasons Manitoba’s roads are so bad is because federal gas taxes have been used in the past to fund things like bocce ball courts and canoe museums,” added Craig. “Creating a Gas Tax Accountability Act could prevent that from happening again.”

The other issue of concern is the practice of charging the GST on top of excise taxes, a practice the CTF has long since advocated to change.

“Right now people pay federal and provincial gas taxes on the price of fuel and then the feds charge the GST on top of the other federal taxes,” added Craig. “That’s not right, people need to call their Member of Parliament and tell them to stop charging the GST on top of other taxes.”

As part of its annual Gas Tax Honesty Day, the CTF released figures on how much Canadians are paying in taxes at the pump. For 2011, the numbers are:

To view the full report, click here.
To view the Manitoba backgrounder, click here.


Clarification: With the decline in stimulus spending, the 2011 budget will see only about half of federal fuel tax dollars put back into road work. Leading up until the 2011 budget, all levels of government had been spending all fuel tax dollars on road work. In other words, the feds have indeed turned back the clock. Thanks to the Winnipeg Sun's Paul Turenne for pointing out the 2011 budget change.