Ontario scraps eco fees on household products, will give funding to cities

Eco fees slapped on thousands of household products failed to strike the right balance between protecting the environment and protecting consumers, Premier Dalton McGuinty admitted Tuesday as the province announced it would scrap the program.

"I'm confident that we have found a better way to strike that balance that is much more sensitive to what our families are going through right now," Mr. McGuinty said after an unrelated event.

"They're very sensitive to additional costs, they're very anxious about the economy, and our responsibility is to be sensitive to that."

The eco fees kicked in July 1, the same day the much-publicized harmonized sales tax took effect in Ontario. But there was no advance warning and consumers felt blindsided by a dizzying array of charges on 9,000 products including bleach, household cleaners and laundry detergent.

The government decided to dramatically scale back the recycling program after the complaints, and after realizing most of containers for the products involved can be put into Blue Boxes for recycling as long as they're empty, said Environment Minister John Wilkinson.

"What was announced on July 1 wasn't working for people and it wasn't working for us," admitted Mr. Wilkinson.

"We are now entering into an agreement with municipalities about some materials that are definitely hazardous and we have to make sure that they stay out of our landfill."

Municipalities will be given about $8-million a year to help them deal with old fire extinguishers, rechargeable batteries, compact fluorescent light bulbs, needles, pharmaceuticals and any mercury-containing devices, Mr. Wilkinson added.

That works out to less than $20,000 per municipality, so it's local property taxpayers that will be on the hook for the recycling, not the manufacturers, warned the New Democrats.

"The consumer's still going to pay, but they're going to pay through their property tax bill," said NDP critic Howard Hampton.

"The producers of the waste will get off scot-free here. That's wrong."

The Opposition said the Liberal government had no choice but to back off the eco fees after upsetting so many consumers.

"They thought they could get this through on the same day the HST was in our focus, and they didn't get away with it," said Progressive Conservative critic Peter Shurman.

"Ontario families have had enough taxation and what you heard today was the minister saying they're not going to have to deal with an eco tax."

Despite the government's announcement Tuesday, not all eco fees are being scrapped.

Programs that existed prior to July 1 which divert, recycle and dispose of tires, electronics such as television sets and household waste such as paint and single-use batteries will continue to charge eco fees to consumers.

"We don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater," said Mr. Wilkinson.

After the disastrous start to the new eco fees on July 1, the Liberal government quickly realized it had made a mistake and announced a 90-day review of the program, which resulted in Tuesday's decision to permanently scrap the fees.

In addition to putting consumer voices on the industry-led bodies that handle the recycling programs, such as Stewardship Ontario, the government has also set up a toll-free hotline - 1-800-889-9768 - for consumers who feel they've been misled or charged inappropriate eco fees.