TORONTO, (Feb. 10, 2005) — Ontario Trucking Association President David Bradley is calling on the Ontario Liberals to make border infrastructure, and fair taxation for trucking companies integral parts of this year’s provincial budget.

At a pre-budget round table consultation meeting in Markham, Bradley told Finance Minister Greg Sorbara that improvements must be made to the Windsor Detroit gateway in order to ensure the flow of goods to US markets.

The OTA asked that the government do its part to put in motion a recent proposal to build new infrastructure in Windsor leading to the border, as well as accelerate decision making for a bi-national deal on a new crossing.

With all Southern Ontario border crossings and the communities experiencing increased problems managing border-bound traffic, the province should “ensure that additional resources are provided to ensure that these problems can be resolved expeditiously,” he said.

The association also has been lobbying for tax reforms. The trucking group says the appreciation of the Canadian dollar; and tax burden on business inputs are two areas unique to Ontario carriers which put them at a competitive disadvantage.

While there’s little the government can do to directly influence the value of currency, it can still address what the OTA says is unfair tax treatment.

The OTA is pushing the province to either follow the U.S.’s lead and provide the trucking industry with a sales tax exemption for its purchases of equipment, parts, service and repair labour; or harmonize the PST/MJVT with the GST.

Secondly the province, suggests the OTA, should eliminate inequities in the application of the Multi-Jurisdictional Vehicle Tax (MJVT). Moreover, there should be an amount of time within the MJVT system, after which no exit tax would be applied.

With respect to lease buy-outs, the Ministry of Finance should recognize the ownership transfer of lease buy-out transactions and again allow the carrier the option of providing a certified appraisal of the vehicle’s true value at the time of ownership transfer, the OTA says.