Reaction to the proposed gas tax

Just the thought of paying up to ten cents a litre more for fuel is enough to send drivers into a tail spin. CHCH spoke to drivers in Niagara Thursday who say another gas tax hike could drive them over the river.

It already costs truck driver Bernard Rolleman a thousand dollars to fill up to up his rig. He can’t afford another ten cents a litre: “Ten cents a litre. That’s 50 cents on a gallon. That would cost a lot.”

Bernard has to pay for fuel out of his own pocket: “They’ve robbed enough of our road taxes already. Our bridges are deteriorating. Our roads are deteriorating.”

Glen Walters can’t believe the province is considering an additional tax: “Somebody’s going to have to pay. I don’t know if it gets passed on to the customer or who though a fuel surcharge.”

To fill up his car, it costs Fort Erie resident Steve Locher more than 70 dollars. To fill up his dump truck is even more: “I can pay easy $600 when I fill up. So an extra 10 cents on that would be huge. That’s scary in that regard.”

The panel who’s recommending this gas hike says idling in Toronto gridlock could cost a driver 700 dollars a year. Niagara residents may not deal with Toronto style gridlock. But they still burn a lot of gas. People in the peninsula can put a lot of kilometres on their cars just getting from where they live to where they work.

The rationale for this tax is to pay for better transit in Toronto: “I don’t see why we should have to pay for their transit. That doesn’t make sense. I’m the furthest away from Toronto. It doesn’t affect me in any way.”

Meghan Lovering says a gas tax hike would drive her over the border to fill up more often.