Diesel tax cut could be in jeopardy

The Stephen Harper Conservatives returned to power last month in convincing fashion, forming a stronger minority government than they previously held and trouncing the Liberals in the process. One campaign promise that undoubtedly won some votes in this industry was Harper’s promise to slash the federal excise tax on diesel in half – from four cents per litre to two.
However, one must wonder if that promise will ever come to fruition. The promised fuel tax hike is in jeopardy, not entirely because of the Conservatives’ own doing, but because of a shameful move by the just-defeated Liberals and NDPers to form a coalition and attempt to overthrow the government we just elected.
If the Liberal/NDP coalition should successfully overturn the Conservatives, it will be a dark day for Canada, especially if Stephane Dion is chosen to act as PM. (Bob Rae’s not a better option either – as Ontario Premier, the NDPer-turned-Liberal proved he can plunge an economy into recession even without the global pressures faced today).
Canadians made it clear on election day last month that neither the Liberals nor the NDP are the right choice to lead this country through the rough waters ahead. However, due to backdoor politicking, it appears Canada’s decision to re-elect a Conservative government may be for naught. It’s embarrassing really. What kind of message does that send to Canadians? That our vote really didn’t matter, after all?
An unelected Liberal/NDP coalition government would make a mockery of Canadian democracy. Harper himself must share some of the blame for the situation he now finds himself in. His decision to slash federal funding for political parties really shook up the hornet’s nest. (Learn to pick your battles, man!)
But despite his recent missteps, I still feel Harper and his team are best-suited to lead us through this recession. We may never find out if the Conservatives will come good on their promise to slash the excise tax on diesel. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is slated to release the federal budget in January – let’s hope he has the chance.

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James Menzies is editorial director of Today's Trucking and TruckNews.com. He has been covering the Canadian trucking industry for more than 24 years and holds a CDL. Reach him at james@newcom.ca or follow him on Twitter at @JamesMenzies.


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  • “An unelected Liberal/NDP coalition government”
    I would respectfully point out that each and every MP in Parliament was lawfully elected, and that it’s the majority of MPs in Parliament who decide who is to form the government and who is to be Prime Minister. That’s how our system works.
    If the Conservatives had managed to convince the Canadian public that they deserved a majority in the Commons, this wouldn’t be happening.

  • To all the people who support the so called coalition think about the following…
    Layton and Dion sitting around the old camp fire after the election. Hey Mr. Dion says Layton , I guess the Canadian people are not as stupid as we thought as we could not flim flam them into electing us with our nutbar claims and policies. HoHo you are correct Mr. Layton, says Dion, I could only bamboozle 24.7percent of the voters and you Mr. Layton could only con 12percent. Boo Hoo our lot in life is in the toilet. I guess we should get used to the back benchs. But wait says Mr. Layton/Dion I see that Mr. Harper only has 46.4percent and hoho thats only a minority government, so if we gather with the other flim flam party, the Bloc, we can hijack the country and get our names in the history books and pick up some quick retirement cash along the way..Little Jack and Stephan are giddy with excitment and they hold an emergency meeting with little Gilles who with I am sure had some very greedy demands that possibly include ton’s of cash and a separate country for his beloved Quebec agrees to support this band of misfits..They hold a press conference on Monday December 1st proclaiming that Mr. Harper is doing a bad job in regards to the so called Economic Down turn and they the 3 parties that lied to the voters to try and get elected with their separate platforms and policies have bonded together and now admit they lied to the public and have no cast aside their differences and are prepared to run the country in these terrible economic times..TSE drops 1200 points in the two days following this Historic announcement..
    Kind of make you feel dirty doesn’t it? 2 of the biggest losers in Canadian political history climbing into bed with a man who’s sole aim is the break up of Canada and some people claiming this is a great ideal!!!
    Poor Canada

  • Too bad that Harper is so arrogant that he thinks a minority government means that he doesn’t have to work with anyone else to actually accomplish anything. I think that ALL of the idiots in the government should be turfed and we should try to find representatives who will actually work together to solve problems instead of selfish little power struggles being the order of the day.