With this proviso: we don't think the federal government has any business taxing motor fuel.
We also think it's inherently dishonest to levy GST or a harmonized sales tax on motor fuel that includes all these excise taxes. You're taxing a tax and that's kind of a banana republic thing to do. It would be better to be straight up, as they've done in Quebec, where they're actually raising their tax rates and are no longer going to apply.... They're going to have a harmonized system.
We don't necessarily agree that you automatically assume that if the federal government stops levying excise taxes on motor fuels, every municipality and every province will immediately reinstate those taxes. But if the voters in Toronto want to have higher fuel taxes and more transit, and the voters in Red Deer want lower fuel taxes and less transit, those are decisions. Then you can decide to live in Toronto or in Red Deer, as the case may be.
We believe that's a better approach for all Canadians than trying to pretend that the federal government can meddle in transit matters.