The Trillium Automobile Dealers Association (TADA) has said it is disappointed with the stance the Ontario provincial government has taken regarding the Drive Clean program. The association has called on Queen’s Park to reduce the program’s fees (currently $35 plus HST) but so far, the government hasn’t said how much or exactly when it plans to reduce them, only that a reduction is coming.
At the end of the fiscal year 2011-2012, Drive Clean, which was originally designed as a revenue neutral program to reduce vehicle emissions, began generating a profit.
According to the Ontario Auditor General, the program is currently on track to accumulate a surplus of $50 million by 2018, despite the fact that profits generated by “revenue neutral,” programs have been deemed illegal by the Supreme Court of Canada.
This year, new computer-based Drive Clean testing procedures were phased in, requiring dealers and independent repair shops to invest in new equipment, even though the program now only covers vehicles seven years or older, back to model year 1988.
Frank Notte, Director of Government Relations for TADA says that while there was probably a good case to be made for the Drive Clean program when it was introduced back in 1999, advances in vehicle technology, have made it less relevant as time has gone by. “The Auditor General reported that a 75 per cent reduction in vehicle emissions had more to do with better manufacturing standards and cleaner fuel than Drive Clean.”
Notte also says that the new testing procedures have caused considerable headaches for the dealers and independent repair shops that have to perform them. “Dealers have been investing anywhere from between $10,000 to $20,000 on testing equipment and drivers are still overpaying,” he says.
Notte says that there’s growing consensus not only for fees to be reduced but for the program to be scrapped entirely. He cites the petition started by Ontario MPP and PC Environment Critic Michael Harris, which calls for the government to scrap Drive Clean (www.scrapdriveclean.ca).
