HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2016-08-31, Page 5Wednesday, August 31, 2016 • News Record 5
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Different licence fees
outdated pandering
It's no surprise the
Ontario government is
again raising the
renewal fee for vehicle
licence plates.
Those who own and
operate a vehicle in this
province are easy prey for
a government that hasn't
balanced a budget in
recent memory and that
has an accumulated debt
of $300 billion. At best,
vehicle owners can only
grin and bear it.
But why the continued
inequity in renewal fees
based on the particular
address of the plate
owner?
As of Sept. 1, for exam-
ple, drivers who live in
southern Ontario will be
paying $120 to renew a
vehicle licence plate.
That's up from $108.
But if they live in north-
ern Ontario, the renewal
fee for the same plate
would be $60, up from
$54.
As it is, vehicle owners
in southern Ontario have
been hit with considera-
ble fee increases since
2011.
Five years ago, the
sticker renewal in south-
ern Ontario was $74.
When the new schedule
is introduced next week,
it will reflect a 62 per
cent increase since 2011.
Vehicle licence fee
concessions for
northern Ontario resi-
dents have existed for
some time. Part of it has
been a continued
acknowledgment of
increased fuel prices for
those living in the north.
But the break on
sticker renewal fees rep-
resents a mild subsidy
that in no way compen-
sates for the often -steep
prices northerners are
compelled to accept.
The lower fee is a politi-
cal gesture, and it's
always been a political
gesture.
One would think
northern Ontarians
would resent being
treated as needy of
such assistance, espe-
cially when the
symbolism has more
value than the $54 it
represents.
Indeed, when the
Ontario Ministry of
Transportation states the
QNTARIO
BFKK*281
YOU -!RS TO 1.)1 Ct)V R
An Ontario licence plate.
fee increases are neces-
sary to help bear the cost
of improving infrastruc-
ture and for the support
of key services such as the
maintenance of provin-
cial roads, bridges and
highways, one has to
wonder if such improve-
ments and services cost
half as much in the north
as they do in the south.
That's nonsense, of
course, but so is the
ministry's fee schedule.
It's antiquated and
should be updated. It
does not reflect modern
Ontario.
The schedule should
apply equally to every
vehicle owner in this
Could Olympics use another Calgary?
As the curtain fell
on the Rio Olym-
pics, we are left to
reflect on the good, the
bad and the ugly of those
Games.
The good is easily
defined: the first-rate
performances by Cana-
da's athletes, both in
competition and in
behaviour. On the medal
front, the Canadian effort
can surely be judged a
success. And praise for
our women, winning
most of the medals and
reestablishing this coun-
try as a power in
swimming.
As for the bad, the deci-
sion to allow various Rus-
sian athletes to compete
despite state-sponsored
drug cheating at its own
Games in Sochi was a
shameful disgrace.
Then, the host country
announces the Paralym-
pics will be severely cur-
tailed because they've
run out of money.
Then, the ugly sight of
athletes involved in
make-believe gunpoint
robberies, while others
are banned from the clos-
ing ceremony because of
loutish behaviour.
Meanwhile, the local
crowds, not content with
cheering on their own
heroes, thought it sport-
ing to hurl abuse at any-
one challenging a Brazil-
ian for a medal.
Which brings us suita-
bly to Calgary and the
city's cautious first steps
toward a bid for the Win-
ter Games in 2026.
"From almost the
moment that I was
elected mayor, six years
ago almost, citizens have
been coming to me say-
ing, 'it's time;" said Mayor
Naheed Nenshi in decid-
ing to spend $5 million to
explore the opportunity.
"It's time in the world-
wide Olympic move-
ment; it's time in the
sport history of this city,
and it's time in the cul-
tural history of this city
for us to bid for another
Olympic Games:'
We echo those senti-
ments, even during these
tough economic times.
We expect this feasibility
study will be thorough
and itself an exercise in
frugality, just as we'd also
expect that, if the bid is
successful, the event
would mirror that cost
consciousness.
The excesses of Sochi
should no longer provide
the standard for choosing
venues.
We have seen too much
strutting and preening
nationalism, inevitably
leading to a legacy of
empty, crumbling shell
facilities.
Such excess didn't hap-
pen in 1988. Countless
Albertans and visitors
enjoyed those Games,
which made a profit of
$140 million and left leg-
acy facilities such as the
Olympic Oval, Canmore
Nordic Centre and Canada
Olympic Park, which are
still in active use.
clintonnewsrecord.com
QM! Agency file photo
province. It shouldn't
contain a regional bias
that smacks of the type of
political pandering that
helps perpetuate a myth
that northerners are
mostly eking out an exist-
ence within a vast and
unforgiving wilderness
- Peter Epp,
Postmedia Network
The volunteer spirit is
still deeply rooted in the
Prairie nature. Can any-
one imagine Calgarians
booing a competitor
because failure might
lead to a Canadian gold?
File photo
Some will say we don't
need another Olympics.
Perhaps, but ask instead
whether the Olympics
might instead need
Calgary.
- Postmedia Network