For immediate release
January 9, 2008

McGuinty gas tax funding leaves Haldimand, Norfolk at the curb
Rural residents miss the bus....again

Simcoe-Despite paying the same 14.7 cents a litre provincial gas tax as all other Ontarians, Haldimand and Norfolk residents continue to wait at the back of the line when it comes to gas tax funding.

At the end of 2007, the Ministry of Transportation announced $314 million in gas tax funding to108 municipalities across the province - neither Haldimand nor Norfolk were included.

"This is yet another slap in the face for all those in our area who pay out gas taxes year after year," levelled Barrett. "We have the same needs for transportation services to access medical services, get to appointments, and visit family, we pay the same taxes, and yet we're left empty-handed while government gives our money to meet other - more urban - transit needs."

In the Spring, Barrett tabled petitions in the Ontario Legislature with over 1,075 Dunnville area signatures, requesting government "investigate the establishment of connecting public transit links between Haldimand county and Norfolk county communities and outlying municipalities, as well as to establish a mechanism to ensure rural municipalities receive the full benefit of the gas tax transit initiative."

During the recent provincial election, the Ontario PC party proposed that every penny of provincial gas and fuel taxes be allocated for roads, bridges and transit across the province. Currently, all gas tax money goes into the general revenue pot, and Queen's Park spends only part of that revenue on what it's being raised for - for example, the McGuinty Government spends $1.9 billion of the $3.1 billion worth of gas taxes on roads bridges and transit.

Meantime, Barrett went on to highlight the work of the The Haldimand and Norfolk Rural Transportation Initiative, titled "Spinning your Wheels".

"It's heartening to see the people in our area working toward solutions for our rural transportation needs," stated Barrett. "I fear that without some real support from the Ontario Government - beyond one-time Trillium grants - we will all be, as the title suggests, 'spinning our wheels'."

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For more information, please contact MPP Toby Barrett
at (519) 428-0446 or 1-800-903-8629