Report says road-user money should pay for roads

OTTAWA, Ont. (July 18)- A federal report suggesting gasoline taxes be put back into roads, highways, and mass transit systems is scheduled to be released today by Transport Minister David Collenette, the Globe and Mail has reported.

The report, authored by a government-appointed advisory panel, would signify a dramatic philosophical shift in the way the government handles fuel tax dollars, which are usually mixed into general government coffers. None of the recommendations are binding, and it is up to Collenette and cabinet colleagues on how to proceed. The minister has repeatedly said in the past that dedicated fuel taxes are not the best way of funding highway and transit systems.

As a result of a year-long review of the Canada Transportation Act, the report recommends that revenue from fuel taxes could be used for roads and urban transit systems, which are strapped for cash in many municipalities across the country. While the U.S. government and provincial governments in Ontario, Alberta, and Quebec designate a portion of fuel tax money to such systems, Ottawa does not.

Much of the report also deals with promoting competition between Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railway, recommending that the government make it easier for small railways to get access to tracks owned by CN and CPR-something that shippers have been requesting for years.

-With files from the Globe and Mail