XPost: bc.politics, van.general, vic.general   
   From: NøCøns@our.House   
      
   Yeah, you really want to vote to keep the bloody HST knowing this.   
   _____________________________________________________________   
      
   May 26, 2011 By CBC News   
      
   Gasoline tax highest in Vancouver: advocacy group   
      
      
   Drivers in Metro Vancouver are paying the highest gasoline taxes in Canada,   
   according to the   
   Canadian Taxpayers Federation.   
      
   Drivers in Metro Vancouver are paying the highest gasoline taxes in Canada,   
   according to the   
   Canadian Taxpayers Federation.   
      
   About 33 per cent of the price of gas in Metro Vancouver is taxes, said   
   Gregory Thomas, the   
   federation's B.C. director.   
   "Metro Vancouver's drivers pay the highest gasoline taxes in Canada. We are   
   number one. We are   
   the Vancouver Canucks of gas taxpayers. We pay more than anyone else anywhere   
   else," Thomas   
   told a news conference at a Burnaby gas station Thursday - which the   
   federation had dubbed   
   Annual Gas Tax Honesty Day.   
      
   One of the reasons Metro Vancouver drivers pay so much is a special transit   
   tax, but rates in   
   Victoria and the B.C. Interior are not far behind, he said.   
      
   Victoria drivers pay about a 30-per-cent tax on gas while the rest of the   
   province pays about   
   28 per cent, according to figures released by Thomas.   
      
   National average is 29 per cent   
      
   The calculations are based on a pump price of $1.379 for B.C., but Thomas   
   notes, the percentage   
   of the price that is tax fluctuates along with the price of gas, because some   
   of the taxes are   
   applied at flat rate per litre and others are based on the price of the gas at   
   the pump.   
      
   Across Canada, the average tax percentage is about 29 per cent, with the   
   lowest rate in Alberta   
   where drivers pay about 21 per cent, base on pump price of $1.158.   
      
   Nationally, a two-car family now pays $1,100 in gas tax alone every year and   
   that number is   
   just going to keep going up for B.C. residents, said Thomas.   
      
   "The main changes are the July 1 increases to the carbon tax. We are going to   
   get nailed with   
   another penny a litre on July 1," he said.   
      
   Gas tax has supporters   
      
   Responding to the Taxpayers Federation complaints, Matt Horne, a spokesman for   
   the   
   sustainable-energy think tank Pembina Institute, said that local gas taxes pay   
   for transit   
   service in Metro Vancouver.   
      
   Horne also said it's too narrow a view to criticize the provincial carbon tax   
   for its cost.   
      
   "The carbon tax in the province has two benefits," he said. "One, it's part of   
   the province's   
   strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the province. And it's the   
   incentive that is   
   provided there. And also the revenue is being used to reduce other taxes   
   people in the province   
   are paying."   
      
   Horne said if people are angry about paying high gasoline taxes, they can look   
   at driving more   
   efficient vehicles, driving less, or where it's a viable option, using transit.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)