As part of its 16th annual Gas Tax Honesty Day, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) held press conferences today in front of Liberal and Conservative MP offices in Regina and Saskatoon. The CTF is urging Saskatchewan taxpayers to call their Members of Parliament and push for a Gas Tax Accountability Act.

For 16 years now the CTF has held press conferences before the May long weekend (when prices usually spike) to draw attention to the amount of taxes people pay at the pump and push governments to spend that money on road repair.

“If Saskatchewan taxpayers want better roads, they should call their Member of Parliament and tell them to spend all federal gas tax dollars on road repair,” said CTF Prairie Director Colin Craig. “Further, tell Ottawa to pass a Gas Tax Accountability Act to legally require gas tax dollars to be spent on roads each year.”

Back in 2006, Saskatchewan’s NDP passed a Gas Tax Accountability Act, ensuring all the money that is collected in provincial gas taxes be spent on roads. Each year the provincial government discloses how the funds are spent in Public Accounts. Unfortunately, Statistics Canada and federal bureaucrats could not inform the CTF how much the federal government spent on roads last year.

The CTF held press conferences in front of the offices of MPs Ralph Goodale (Regina) and Brad Trost (Saskatoon).

The CTF’s latest Gas Tax Honesty Day report (including a draft of a proposed federal Gas Tax Accountability Act) can be found HERE.

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