VICTORIA: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today continued to speak out on the issue of high gas prices and high gas taxes. The CTF has led the charge in blowing the whistle on tax gouging at the pumps and has conducted five annual gas tax honesty campaigns. The sixth gas tax honesty campaign will kick-off later this month.

Motorists fuming over GST hit:
Over the past 12 months - the period of May 2003 to April 2004 - the average cost of a litre of gasoline paid by Canadian motorists was 73.3 cents. At this level the federal government will collect $1.178-billion in GST revenues. But according to M.J. Ervin & Associates, the average weekly price of a litre of regular gasoline has already jumped to 85.7 cents. This price level will pump another $200-million into the federal treasury over the next year - totalling $1.378-billion in GST revenue. And if the average cost tops 90 cents this summer, as many analysts believe it will, the federal GST take would jump by another $60-million.

"From 1995 to 2003, Ottawa's annual GST haul from gasoline sales increased from $855-million to $1.178-billion due to higher gas prices since GST is charged as a component of total pump price," said Williamson. "GST is even charged on fuel taxes. Coupled with rising fuel taxes, motorists are getting hosed at the pumps like never before."

Big Government continues to dig deep into the pockets of motorists:
"On average, 42 per cent of the price of a litre of fuel is taxes," stated CTF federal director John Williamson. "Ottawa collects almost $4.7-billion in annual gas taxes but returns less than 3 per cent or $135-million for road construction and highway development."

"Even if we generously factor in everything Ottawa loosely calls infrastructure, things like canoe museums and bocce ball courts, the Liberal government returns less than 10 per cent of what it has collected at the pumps in the last decade," added Williamson. "This kind of profit margin makes the Big Oil industry look like a corner store operation by comparison."