Edmonton Sun:SUNDAY, MAY 29, 2011 1:54:36 MDT PM

Lord knows the Canadian Taxpayers Federation isn't perfect. 
 

On more than one occasion, it has allowed its underlying ideological support for conservatism to override its better judgment, and has refused to levy appropriate criticism at our provincial Tories as a result.

But, it's worth remembering that this relatively small-but-effective lobby exists for one reasons: to wrestle our tax dollars out of the greedy maw of government and back into the hands of the people.

And most of the time, it is the only group getting its voice effectively out there. Just as people concerned with the state of democracy can depend on Democracy Watch to remain largely impartial for that purpose, the CTF is usually pretty open about its raison d'etre.

So when the CTF launches a campaign, it's worth paying attention, and at least seeing if it's worth supporting.

The latest -- and longest-running-- of these annual exercises is the attempt to stop the federal government from taxing gas twice.

Gas Tax Honest Day, which took place Thursday, has now been around for 13 years. Unfortunately, that says as much about public disengagement from a nonresponsive political system as it does about our politicians.

For 13 years, the CTF has pointed out that gas at the pump is effectively charged twice, because it is loaded with tariffs before it gets to the pump. The government then taxes its own tariffs --built into the pump price-- by charging GST on top of the sale.

In effect, you are paying a tax on a tax. It's beyond unfair. It should be illegal ... READ MORE | PDF