I know tis the season for happiness and joy and gratitude and such but permit me one more rant column before the holiday spirit kicks in (I’ll start shopping one of these days, I promise), please and thanks.
Actually in some ways it’s a good thing as B.C. auditor general John Doyle recently pointed out that ICBC charges $75 for a new or renewed driver’s licence when it only costs the corporation $10 to issue the licences.
So thanks Mr. Doyle for revealing that fact so we can rant about it.
And, for the record, this isn’t a rant against ICBC as they are just the collectors, it’s Victoria that sets the rate and gets all the revenue – a whopping $36.5 million in driving licence fees in the fiscal year that ended last March.
The auditor general concluded that the provincial government sets fees without providing a rationale to the agencies that collect them – probably because it’s easier to not explain what so obviously is a total money grab.
Or better yet, how do you defend the indefensible?
The government needs cash and doesn’t want to touch high-profile things like income tax that make headlines, or better yet let’s cut the income tax and look like heroes, meanwhile we’ll make up the difference on jacking up user fees, like driver’s licences, and nobody will even notice.
Well the auditor general did.
And we did too, it’s just you know you only have to get your driver’s licence every five years (unless you lose it or it gets stolen), and whaddya gonna do – it’s not like you can get your driver’s licence from anybody but the government?
But that’s the point.
It’s a monopoly and they’re abusing the power and we’re the victims, as are the poor people at the Access Centre who have to collect the money grab on behalf of the politicians who set the fees from the comfort of their seats in the Legislature so many miles and part of an ocean away.
And this isn’t partisan. I remember Glen Clark hiking user fees and I know the Liberals have too. It’s about accountability and fairness and honesty in government and not hiding the bad books with total ripoffs like jacking up user fees for no reason at all except you need the cash and you think the public will let you get away with it.
Doyle, at least someone’s looking out for us taxpayers, recommends government fees be explained to agencies (gee, that will take some creative spinning), revised regularly, I assume to make sure they are in line with actual costs, and the information (for any increases, I assume) made “readily available to the public.”
Hear, hear.
This should also serve as a warning to those who think we’re always better off in the hands of government.
If a similar report had showed the oil companies were marking up their product by 750 per cent, for no justifiable reason, there would be shrill calls for a royal inquiry. Gee, by the same people who brought you a $75 licence fee, or at least their cohorts in Ottawa.
To me these annoying and unjustifiable fees are bigger deals than the HST fiasco. OK, it was presented horribly and communicated even worse and rightfully cost someone their job but it made sense on other levels, such as harmonizing already existing taxes, although it also expanded the tax base which was annoying. However now we’re left with uncertainty and huge costs to go back to an old system that may be comfortable but is not necessarily better for everyone involved.
Heavy sigh. However today’s rant is about unjustifiably high user fees and how we just put up with them, like we have a choice. At least someone has fired back on our behalf.
We’ll see if the auditor general’s recommendations actually lead to any changes or reductions in fees. I’m not counting on it.
—Glenn Mitchell is the managing editor of The Morning Star
glenn@vernonmorningstar.com
