McGuinty Pushing All Ontario Ministries to Add More Fees

If you thought the HST and the new Eco-Fee were enough New Taxes and Fees already, wait till you hear what Dalton McGuinty has in store for Ontarians next...

A new "Results-Based Planning document" released by the McGuinty Government is urging all Provincial Ministries to create new fees or enhance existing fees to increase revenue to stay on budget.

Here's the story from the Toronto Sun:

McGuinty government urges new fees

Eco fees may be just the beginning.

The Dalton McGuinty government has encouraged its ministries to pursue new cost-recovery fees to stay on budget and to pay for additional programs, according to a 2010-11 Results-Based Planning document obtained by the Sun.

“Non-tax revenues (NTRs) offer an opportunity to ensure fiscal neutrality of ministry expenditure proposals,” the document says. “If applicable, ministries are encouraged to propose new revenue streams to offset increased expenditures if there are no large-scale investments required, or to increase existing fees to achieve full cost recovery.”

The “Other Revenue Technical Guide” reminds ministry budget crunchers that they have “an opportunity to make requests for establishing new revenue streams and/or significant redesigns to existing fees which could be considered if they assist ministries in living within their current multi-year minuted allocation.”

Ministries were also told the public should be charged a “premium” for using electronic kiosks instead of traditional over-the-counter service, even though it would appear to reduce the need for costly staff.

“Particular electronic service delivery channels, such as kiosks, are considered a premium service for which an additional amount is charged to acknowledge the cost of this service above the normal delivery standard,” a guide says.

“This may result in the total fee charged being higher than the fee to deliver the same service over the counter.”

Finn Poschmann, of the C.D. Howe Institute, who co-authored a report arguing the Ontario Green Energy fee that took effect this spring is likely an indirect tax, said governments’ post-stimulus spending will be looking at unobtrusive and uncontroversial ways to raise resources outside the traditional tax increase.

“You better believe they’re looking at fees in different jurisdictions — health fees and all kinds of things, environmental fees — just ways to raise money to do their business,” Poschmann said. “You’ve got to do it constitutional, legally, otherwise voters lose control over their governments.”

Well, you elected him twice. You did nothing about the HST. And you are doing nothing about the Eco Fee. When Criminals are presented with naive, gullible and passive suckers, they shine and perform at their best.

Speaking of Criminals, a new controversy with the McGuinty Government over Corruption yet again has come up today.

Here's the story from the Toronto Star:
OPP probes ministry staff

Staff in some provincial government ministries are under criminal investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police, the Star has learned. The probe is examining business dealings with private-sector firms.

The OPP confirmed Friday that the force’s anti-rackets branch is conducting the investigation.

“There is an ongoing investigation into irregular transactions between government ministries and outside vendors,” said Linda Cranney, a member of the OPP’s media relations staff, who declined to provide any other details about the nature of the investigation.

However, sources say personnel from the OPP’s anti-rackets branch executed search warrants and raided government ministries in the Macdonald Block near the Ontario Legislature on Thursday.

That block contains offices for numerous ministries and agencies, including the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, and Ontario Realty Corp., the government’s real estate arm.

Last year, an Ontario judge found a Vaughan landscape contractor and two partners guilty of corruption and liable for more than $3 million plus interest in a nine-year civil case. It involved the manipulation of bids for an environmental cleanup contract and three land sales with Ontario Realty Corp. staff during the late 1990s.

The government had initially sued more than 45 individuals and companies, including several ORC employees, for about $48 million for their roles in alleged bid-rigging, accepting kickbacks, breach of trust, forgery and fraud.

In that scandal, two government employees pleaded guilty to accepting kickbacks or secret commissions totalling more than $85,000 and repaid the money. One of the employees had buried the money in his backyard for safekeeping.

The operator of the outside firm pleaded guilty to bribery and bid-rigging and was ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution.

Serious questions about selling and operational practices surfaced at Ontario Realty in the late 1990s after the agency was dramatically downsized to cut costs. At that time, the agency increased its use of outside contractors and launched a major selling program to generate extra government revenues.

Ever since day one of Dalton McGuinty's reign as Premier of Ontario, his government has been guilty of Corruption and waste in every single department. And what's the cost of this constant Corruption and Waste? New Taxes and Fees for us Ontarian Tax Payers... It will never be enough. Never.

--jackandcokewithalime


(Image:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/archive/9/9e/20100115034403!Dalton_McGuinty_2007.JPG by Joshua Sherurcij on Wikipedia)