MONTREAL, QC - Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre announced on social media this morning that he plans to impose a new sweet beverage tax to "diversify the revenues" of the city and its administration. CTF Quebec Director Carl Vallée issued the following statement in response to this announcement:

"Denis Coderre invokes a noble objective to justify the imposition of a new tax on the wallets of Montreal taxpayers, namely the funding of a dedicated fund for children. That said, Montreal families are already overtaxed and are struggling to make ends meet. Mayor Coderre spent tens of thousands of dollars on a new flag that no one asked for and millions of taxpayer dollars to fund a Formula E race, but he tries to make us believe that the city would not have the means to fund a policy for children from its existing income?

"What's more, if its goal is to improve the health of Montrealers, experience in other jurisdictions around the world has shown that an additional tax does not work. Just this month, the city of Chicago reversed its sugar beverage tax policy after only two months of implementation because it did not have the desired effects. This morning's announcement is another illustration of Mayor Coderre's lack of respect for the taxpayers ability to pay."

The CTF released a report in November 2013 on sweet drink taxes that you can view by clicking here.