Working British Columbians who don't drive have it made. They pay some of the lowest income taxes in the country. As soon as they get behind the wheel, a degree of that tax competitiveness is blown out the exhaust pipe.

When the new 3.5-cent per litre gas tax is in place, motorists in Vancouver and Victoria will pay the highest provincial and local gas taxes in the country.

Vancouver's gas tax will climb to a total of 20.5 per litre as of March 1st. One month later, the scheduled half-cent per litre gas tax increase for Translink will drive up Vancouver's total gas tax bill to 21 cents per litre. That's more than double the tax paid by Alberta motorists (currently nine cents per litre on regular gasoline).

Victoria motorists will pay 17 cents per litre for regular gas as of March 1st, a rate higher than any other Canadian jurisdiction save for Vancouver. Gas taxes climb to 14.5 cents per liter for BC motorist in the remainder of the province.

These figures of course do not include the federal ten-cent per litre excise tax on gasoline or the GST that's charged on gas and the taxable component of the pump price as well. And it wouldn't be proper not to throw in the fact that Ottawa is a dead-beat tax collector that spends under $30 million per year on BC roads but hauls in over $700 million in taxes from BC motorists.

If the feds pulled their weight and poured annual gas tax bucks back into concrete, the BC transportation budget would be bursting at the seams.

Now is the time for the BC government to lock arms with the other provinces to press Money-Banks in Ottawa for a bigger slice of the gas tax booty. The dedicated tax money should be targeted for transportation spending only.

Dedicated taxes are superior to general taxes on wealth creation (i.e. personal and corporate income tax) to finance infrastructure projects. The BC government gets an "A plus" for its exemplary record in dedicating motor fuel revenues to road renewal.

Improvements to BC roads should continue to be financed by a gas tax user fee and not through debt-financing that passes-off costs to later generations of British Columbians.

Dedicating gas taxes to pay for the announced $609 million over three years for road improvements in BC's interior communities is fine and well. But the corollary to a dedicated gas tax is to repeal it once the cost of those projects are paid for and complete.

Transportation improvements in other parts of the province should be financed in the same manner, with a dedicated gas tax and a sunset clause.

The BC government should not follow in the federal government's shoes and maintain a dedicated tax in perpetuity after the tax has exhausted its purpose. Ottawa introduced a 1.5-cent per litre gas tax in 1995 to reduce the deficit. The deficit was eliminated six years ago but the tax remains. But Ottawa's credibility on the issue is shot.

A sunset clause would dispel the notion that the gas tax hike is a run of the mill tax grab. It would also signal a light at the end of the tunnel for BC motorists and businesses.

Finally, some measure of broad-based tax relief in the up coming provincial budget would go a long way to cushion the blow of record high gas taxes.