A rant about Eco fees.

http://www.thestar.com/business/money911/article/834144#article


Hard on the heels of Copenhagen's climate conference, climate change and ecology are on most people's minds.

What a great time to implement eco-fees! We are told none of those fees make it to government pockets. Okay, where are all those fees going?? Well, first of all there is the bureaucracy of the program, including advertisements and all sorts of administrative personnel. Then there are the large multi-national companies that have quietly bought up positions so they are first in line for the money generated. Years ago they bought recycling and garbage facilities saying " there is gold in garbage." Yeah, our gold by eco-fee.


Already many people have been pointing out, these fees really do nothing to impact buying habits unless you are really poor. Many times the eco-fees are larger than the gst/hst. New tires are a must on a regular basis, new batteries same way. Retailers charge for paints, anti-freeze, de-icers & plastics, (I wonder if Magna pays eco-fees on its plastics).

The people most hurt by eco-fees are the poor. Case in point: A family struggling to survive, both parents work but are not paid much beyond minimum wage. Need new tires, they wait until they are thread-bare have a blow out and because of the accident people are killed, but "worse" oil and antifreeze is spilled on the highway, and the acrid burning of tire and car and flesh creates terrible black, noxious cloud. Another case: the battery really should be changed. It isn't holding a charge in the winter and has to be jumped a few times. Car stalls on a rural road at 40 below zero, they couldn't afford deicer. In both cases the eco fees make these purchases out of reach.

The Eco-fees are really taxes--of the worst kind. Not only do they fall disproportionally on the poor, they never reach government coffers. If we have to pay taxes, they should at least go towards the already exorbitant taxes the middle class is expected to pay.

Finally, there is the inflationary pressure they create in the economy. Some eco fees add 5% or more to the cost of an item. The eco-fee system is expanding and will inevitably include: "All products in their individual impacts on the environment"
Of course the strategy is to implement it slowly. Eco fees have existed on Tires and Batteries and Paint for some time. Now the list is expanding. We will suffer the effects of incrimentalism and gradualism until everything has the new tax. For what thing do we buy that doesn't have an impact on the environment in some way? If the stated goal is to make a direct cost between the consumer and the environment, where will the limit ultimately be?

In any event, the inflationary costs will be noticed by the Bank of Canada, and may push inflation over 4%. which will in turn cause higher interest rates. Which if the poor have managed to buy a home by the skin of their teeth will mean they lose it.
The sooner Canadians put their foot down on this the better.