Backgrounder

Toronto: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is pleased to partner with the Canadian Automobile Association, Ontario Motor Coach Association, Ontario Trucking Association, and Ontario Road Builders' Association in the 2004 Ontario Worst Roads Campaign. The goal of the campaign is to invite citizens to vote for Ontario's worst road at www.worstroads.ca and demand that action be taken to improve the province's crumbling transportation infrastructure.

The CTF has itself held two previous contests to nominate Canada's worst highway and call for better maintenance of the nation's throroughfares. In addition, in 1999 the CTF began its Gas Tax Honesty Campaign to inform Canadians of the gasoline taxes they pay at the pumps, to ensure gasoline taxes are dedicated toward road construction, and to pressure Ottawa to cut gasoline taxes not spent on road construction. For the past three years, the CTF has called for the establishment of a Municipal Roadway Trust (MRT) that would dedicate a portion of the gas taxes motorists pay to maintain and develop roadway infrastructure.

"The Municipal Roadway Trust would put motorists' tax dollars back where they belong: in the roads they use. It would empower municipalities to fix their roads without hiking property taxes, thereby providing additional relief to taxpayers."

This past June the CTF conducted a cross-country tour, "Running on Empty, Fuming to Ottawa," driving a campaign-decorated van from Victoria to Ottawa to demand a reduction in gas taxes and promote the MRT. The CTF was pleased that during the recent federal election, all three major parties pledged that, if elected, they would remit a portion of the gas tax to towns and cities - but more needs to be done.

"Prime Minister Paul Martin's commitment to dedicate 5 cents per litre to municipalities is a start, but not enough, to ensure the proper maintenance of the nation's roads. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty should also step up to the plate as he promised in the last provincial election, and create an Ontario MRT. His decision to dedicate gas tax money solely to Toronto transit is not fair to Ontario taxpayers who don't live in the GTA," said Kheiriddin

Attached is a table showing the tax dollars that would be returned to major Ontario cities and towns based on a pledge of 5 cents federally and 2 cents provincially (per litre), versus current spending on these priorities. A combined federal-provincial MRT would provide nearly half the revenues needed to maintain the province's roads and highways.