A Day in the Life

What the f*&$!  That was all I could think as the girl at Home Depot told Lisa and I that there is a 10 cent “eco fee” on bags of soil.  We needed two bags of soil to fix up some spots on our lawn so we headed down and picked up two bags of soil and a bag of grass seed.  You don’t want to know what I was thinking when I was told there is an eco fee on grass seed to >:(

What is an eco fee? 

Well if you live in Ontario and buy any number of “household” items there is a tax grab fee to cover the costs of a program that is meant to get people to dispose of hazardous materials in a safe manner. 

In reality the program makes sense.  Rather than having people throw half full buckets of paint, motor oil, containers that held hazardous materials, fluorescent lights and all kind of nasty things into the garbage and therefore into landfills they have drop off sites set up where you can leave these items at no charge.  They will then dispose of those materials properly.

It sounds like a good program.  There are a few local drop off centers and I’ve used them in the past.  At some of them they even keep the paint and lets say you need a little paint for a small project, you can take, for free, what they have and return the can later.

But I am at a bit of a loss as to why this tax fee is added to things like bags of dirt (the bag is recyclable) and bags of grass seed (the bag is recyclable).  If the material the bag is made with is recyclable and the material inside said bag is a natural product i.e dirt and grass, then why the fee?

Because Dalton McGuinty is an asshat, that is why.  Our lovely premier, who is no doubt on his way out and taking the Liberals down in flames with him, thought it was a good idea and snuck it in with no warning to consumers.  In fact it wasn’t until a few days after it was implemented that most people found out about the tax fee as it quietly took effect over the Canada Day long weekend. 

Now he is trying to claim it is not a tax, it is a fee and that the money goes to a arms reach organization but that is about as honest as a used car salesman.  His government set up the organization and it is no doubt staffed by his friends and supporters.  Sneaky devil.

This is the same guy who thought it was a good idea to add the HST to athletic fees, gym memberships and everything else that promotes a healthy lifestyle but exempt fast food all while health care costs rise. 

The best part about the eco fee is that it is subject to the brand new HST adding another 13% to the total. 

Yay!