Canada: Ontario’s Chamber of Commerce asks gov to reverse gas pump sticker plan

Forcing gas station operators to display Ontario government stickers on the federal carbon tax violates their rights and freedoms, argues the province's chamber of commerce.

In a letter sent last Thursday to the Energy Minister Greg Rickford, President of Ontario's Chamber of Commerce, Rocco Rossi, asked the Progressive Conservatives to reverse their decision on gas pump sticker plan as the decals would be of “political nature”, reports CTV News.
"Our members – including gas station operators – have expressed concerns regarding the political nature of the stickers, viewing them as a violation of their rights and freedoms," Rossi said.

The decals were introduced earlier this month as part of a set of measures of the Tory government to fight against the federal levy. Legislation requires now English and French stickers to be shown on gas pumps to inform the customer that the tax has added 4.4 cents a litre to the price of gasoline, and that this tax will also eventually rise to 11 cents per litre by 2022.

Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick are the provinces where Ottawa imposed the levy after these territories opted not to impose their own pricing schemes on carbon emissions.

Stickers will cost taxpayers approximately $5,000 to print 25,000 units, according to the government. Their distribution around 3,200 operator across the province, however, is not included in the budget. Gas stations who refuse to display the mandatory stickers on their pumps could be subject to fines amounting to up to $10,000 per day.

"This initiative is an example of unnecessary red tape: it is both a new administrative burden and an increased cost to business thanks to the punitive and outsized fines for non-compliance," Rossi argued in the letter.

Energy Minister Rickford defended the stickers, saying in a statement that "Ontario families have the right to know exactly what the Trudeau carbon tax costs them every time they fill up at the pump. The carbon tax will kill jobs and raise the price of nearly everything across our province, hurting every member of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce."