April 19, 2008
Can ban legislation still raising questions
TERESA WRIGHT
The Opposition wants government to lower Islanders’ Waste Watch fees once beverage container deposits come into effect.
Currently Islanders pay $190 annually in fees to Island Waste Management Corporation to collect garbage and recyclables.
But Opposition member Mike Currie said with the new 10-cent deposit on all beverage containers except dairy, Islanders will be paying twice for the government to dispose of their recyclables.
“We already have an existing system in place to return our recyclables. We seem to be duplicating the existing system and gouging Islanders with a 10-cent fee,” Currie said.
But Environment Minister George Webster doesn’t see it that way.
“The honourable member is partly correct. There are fees within the Waste Watch program that will cover some of the cost, but it doesn’t cover all of the cost,” Webster said during question period.
Currie asked if government would be willing to lower the cost of homeowners’ Waste Watch fees to offset the cost of the deposit prices soon to be charged on everything from water bottles to juice boxes.
“We’re paying $190 now for our houses to Waste Watch to look after the refundables and the recyclables and the waste – he’d better lower that price,” Currie said of Webster.
“If he’s going to set up another system he should cut that in half.”
But Webster said he doesn’t see that happening.
“We have at this time not come to that conclusion – we don’t anticipate lowering the cost of that.”
Currie was also concerned that the government’s share of the money collected through the new beverage deposit will not be going into an environmental fund, as originally reported.
It will actually be going into general revenue.
Webster said this is the way he’s been told it must be done.
“The normal channels for money to flow like that is to go to general revenue. After it goes into general revenue, then it will be set aside for an environmental fund of sorts.”
He assured the money will not get lost in the system.
“I know people have some concerns – the minister of finance is basically telling me that it has to go into general revenue first and then into an environmental fund.”
But Currie accused government of deliberately misleading Islanders.
“People were duped and misled and we’re disappointed by that.”
He said Opposition will continue to question every detail of the bill as it continues through its second reading.
“They’re going to have a hard time getting this bill across,” Currie said.
“We just don’t think they should be doing the process that they are. They’re just ramming it through and Islanders are upset with that.”
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=127539&sc=98
