CLARK CONCERNED AS MINISTER WON’T GIVE CAR TAX A RED LIGHT

QUEEN’S PARK – A week after forcing them to reverse plans to tax home ownership, Ontario PC Deputy Leader and Leeds-Grenville MPP Steve Clark asked the Wynne government to assure Ontario motorists they won’t shift gears and rev up a car tax.

“A leopard can’t change its spots, so Ontarians are right to be worried about what other revenue tools this government has up its sleeve to pick their pockets,” said Clark, who noted the government has hiked taxes by a staggering $30.8 billion. “Raising taxes is in their DNA.”

Clark said he’s alarmed the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing wouldn’t rule out that he’s considering giving all municipalities the authority to collect a Vehicle Registration Tax.

“All I got was the same rhetoric we heard when I first raised the issue of the expanded Municipal Land Transfer Tax and we all know how that ended,” said Clark. “The minister claimed I was making it up – until he fessed up and backed down last week before my motion against the tax could be debated.”

Currently, the City of Toronto is the only Ontario municipality with the authority to levy a Vehicle Registration Tax. The unpopular tax was rescinded by city council in Toronto in 2010 and an attempt to reintroduce it was resoundingly defeated in March of this year.

Clark pointed out drivers in Ontario already send $10 billion every year to the provincial treasury through fees and taxes.

“And that’s before the Wynne government’s carbon tax and road tolls make the commute to work even more expensive,” he said.

“The last thing hard-working families need is to be slapped with a car tax and I’m disappointed the minister wouldn’t rule it out today. It’s more proof that the Wynne government isn’t in it for Ontarians.”