On Thursday, May 17, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) launched its 9th annual Gas Tax Honesty Campaign. The yearly campaign kicks-off the summer travel season for Canadian motorists and is a reminder of the high tax component hidden in the price of gasoline.

Over the past few years the price of gasoline has skyrocketed across Canada. Gasoline is now regularly over $1 per litre in every region of the country. At the beginning of May, motorists were paying $1.30 per litre in British Columbia and $1.20 in Atlantic Canada. Gasoline taxes account for an average 33 per cent of the pump price.

The CTF continues to remind Prime Minister Harper of repeated statements made while in opposition on the need to cut gas taxes - statements he has now backed away from.

During the 2004 federal election, then-Opposition Leader Stephen Harper promised to eliminate the GST on gasoline once it reached 85 cents per litre. The Conservative Opposition also pledged to stop applying GST to gas taxes.

In August 2005, Stephen Harper blasted the Liberal government for refusing to reduce gas taxes as prices soared. "There's no reason for the federal government to profiteer when consumers are hurting," he said, urging the former government to give motorists a break. "This is causing considerable dislocation. There are a lot of people on fixed incomes. There are a lot of businesses on thin margins that are going to be affected by this."

Now in government, the Conservatives are in full retreat. The one point reduction in GST from the 2006 federal budget is the only measure helping motorists. This will save motorists a penny a litre at the pumps - a far cry from the 5 cents a litre Mr. Harper championed as leader of the Opposition.

Prime Minister Harper now says the GST reduction is "broader" and therefore more preferable and effective.

Mr. Harper's statement in favour of broad-based tax relief drips with considerable irony. In two consecutive budgets, Conservatives have moved away from broad-based tax relief, preferring small, targeted "boutique" tax reductions. These "boutique" tax reductions have come in the form of a myriad of tax credits for those who use public transit, enrol their children in sports, buy text books, and eat meals while driving a big rig - to name a few.

While the CTF certainly agrees broad-based tax relief is preferable, to suggest a gas tax cut is not broad-based is laughable. Nearly all Canadians rely on some form of gas-burning vehicle to transport their families to work, school, and around their communities. And virtually every Canadian relies on gas-burning vehicles to transport food and other consumer goods to them every day. If the Prime Minister is now interested in broad-based tax relief that would put money back in the pockets of as many Canadians as possible, cutting gas taxes is about as broad-based as he could get.

In his 2006 budget speech to the House of Commons, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said, "There were many personal tax relief options we could have pursued in this budget. We made a choice. We chose to support hard-working families." As the price of gas soars and federal coffers continue to swell, many "hard-working" families are starting to ask why they are still being gouged at the pumps by their government.

Adam Taylor is National Research Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation
www.taxpayer.com