REGINA – With the long weekend fast approaching, many residents are noticing that prices at the pumps are rising.
However, the increase is not because the price in fuel is increasing but rather for decades of deficits that have been racked up by the government.
In 1995, the government imposed a one and a half cent per litre deficit fuel tax to help balance the books. Through periods of being in and out of debt, the tax has stayed around.
Prairie Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation Todd MacKay, points out that deficits are a “delayed tax that you end up paying for decades.”
The tax that was put in place over 20-years-ago has ended up costing Canadians $12.6 billion, making it a $20 tax on a $60 fill up.
“In Saskatchewan roughly 33 per cent of the price you pay at the pump goes to the government. That’s money that you don’t get to spend taking your kids out for supper or out to the ball game.”
MacKay says that we’ve “got to get smarter with our money at the government level” in order to avoid future fuel taxes.
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