Fuel tax feud bad news for municipalities
EDMONTON, Alta. — The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) is warning the internal squabble over Alberta’s fuel tax revenue may deter the feds from chipping in towards road projects.
The FCM has been pressuring Ottawa to dedicate three cents of the 10-cent federal fuel tax towards a transportation fund for Canadian cities. However, the group is concerned Ottawa will use the feud in Alberta as an excuse not to chip in.
"The finance bureaucracy in Ottawa does not like the idea of a dedicated tax," says FCM president, Jack Layton. "If they can point to what happened here in Alberta and the problems the province got into by signing a dedicated tax agreementthat’s the kind of thing that can undermine our campaign."
If the FCM is successful in getting Ottawa to put three per cent of its fuel tax revenue towards infrastructure, it could yield $1 billion annually for transportation projects throughout Canada.
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