CTA pleased but not satisfied with report

OTTAWA, Ont. (July 22)- The Canadian Trucking Alliance says it is generally pleased with the recommendations of the Canada Transportation Act review panel’s final report, but still admits it would have liked to see more definitive suggestions on how to address the current problems of highway infrastructure and more leadership in securing a national safety system. Still, the report, at the very least, is a further reminder to Transport Minister David Collenette that the existing mechanisms for governing carriers need to be reevaluated.

A key recommendation adopted by the panel to create a national highway infrastructure investment agency also has the CTA concerned with the suggested method to contribute to such a fund, specifically the introduction of weight-distance taxes. The CTA says that trucks already pay close to half a billion dollars a year in federal excise taxes as well as an additional $ 1.5 billion in provincial fuel taxes. Furthermore, every Canadian heavy truck also pays taxes to provincial governments based on their gross vehicle weight.