The drive from Regina to Lake Diefenbaker is quite stunning during harvest - with rolling hills and fields dotted with freshly bailed golden straw under an enormous azure sky. Just don't take your eyes off the road for too long or you risk slamming in to one of the many bone-jarring, tooth-chipping, axle-rattling potholes that dot the highway.

Heading west on highway 42, it isn't long before the road abruptly turns from soft, sticky asphalt into loose gravel with 8-10 inch wheel ruts. If you happen to be driving a small vehicle, the ruts will cause immense driver stress. That is, if you haven't already been scared stiff by the football-sized chunks of black asphalt randomly strewn about the "highway".

And on it goes like this, from pavement to gravel, back to pavement, and gravel again, for countless miles.

That's why Canadian Taxpayer's Federation (CTF) supporter Rick Billet, general manager of the Tugaske Co-op, has nominated this infamous stretch of highway for the distinction of being Canada's "Highway from Hell."

The Highway from Hell contest is part of the CTFs 5th Annual Gas Tax Honesty Campaign. The campaign has a set of proposals aimed at bringing gas tax relief to motorists and providing much-needed upgrades to our highway system. The CTF's Municipal Roadway Trust model would return 50 per cent of federal fuel tax dollars back to municipalities, on a per capita basis, each year for the next three years. For Saskatchewan, this would mean as much as $60 million -- $12 million for Regina, $19 million for Saskatoon, and nearly $30 million for the all the other municipalities.

While the CTF hasn't determined the "winner" of Canada's worst highway (nominations are still rolling in), Highway 42 is certain to get serious consideration.

The fact this treacherous highway leads to one of southern Saskatchewan's most beautiful areas makes matters worse. Highways 42 and 19 are the primary access route for people in southern Saskatchewan, neighbouring provinces, and the United States. Lake Diefenbaker offers visiters stunning scenery, incredible fishing, attractive parks, and one heck of a golf course in the Harbour Golf Club.

If only it were feasible to get there safely, Lake Diefenbaker could easily be Saskatchewan's Okanagan Valley.

Unfortunately, this is a story that is common to many areas of Saskatchewan. A Regina Leader Post headline recently declared "Poor highways prompt tourist to steer clear of Saskatchewan." This is not the headline we want to see when our province's biggest public policy objective these days is to bring people to the province.

While our governments commit highway robbery at the pumps, our municipalities struggle to make ends meet, sometimes choosing between police and fire services and fixing roads. Property taxes in Saskatchewan are the highest in Western Canada, and getting higher each year. All the while, ribbons of decaying highway cris-cross the province.

Some problems are easier to solve than others. The CTF's proposal to share fuel tax revenues with provinces and municipalities would give taxpayers the infrastructure they pay for and deserve. Tell your MP to give us our money back.

Hi-Resolution Photos and Captions:

Photo_3: Rick Billet, General Manager of Tugaske Co-op has nominated Highway 42 - the treacherous goat path leading to Lake Diefenbaker - as Canada's Highway from hell.

Photo_1: Football-sized chunks of asphalt are strewn across Highway 42 leading to Lake Diefenbaker, earning the roadway a nomination for the CTF's "Highway from Hell" award.