Along with the HST coming into effect in July 1st, more Eco fees came into effect covering a wide range of products. The Eco fees are supposed to be fees charged to manufactures based on the amount of products or packaging they put into the market place.  Stewardship Ontario which receives these fees claims not to be government yet they were setup by the provincial government.

If they are not government, then someone or some group is getting the money we are all being forced to pay. The manufactures are allowed to pass along the fees they are charged to the consumer in any manner they choose. At this point, the fees are appearing on our sales receipts as an added fee one which we pay — you guessed it — HST. But it’s not a tax you see, you just have to pay tax on it.

There appears to be no established standard as to how the fees are assessed and as such the consumer has zero protection from the manufacturers taking whatever they want as the cost of passing on the fee. Since it isn’t attached to the product at the point of the consumer making their selection, we don’t even have buying power to limit the fees to a minimum.

There is no incentive for a manufacturer to absorb the costs into any part of their process or even to find cheaper ways to bring their product to market by keeping the eco fee to a minimum. Those products that are being charged the fees, oh yeah, you’re supposed to recycle them. While some retailers will be accepting some of those products, the vast majority of them will be recycled through municipal waste programs which, you guessed it, our tax dollars pay for.

Stewardship Ontario claims the new fees, along with those introduced in 2008 and since will “helping ensure that these products are collected, recycled, reused or disposed of in the most environmentally friendly way. And that’s good for you, good for your families and good for the environment.” Lots of luck with that boys.

If you think for even a moment that after paying this fee at the till I’m going to make sure the product ends up in a recycling depot, you have another think coming. Why would I pay for having to separate the items from my regular garbage (that I also pay to put out) and then transport it to a recycling depot when I’ve already paid a fee at the till?

They really want to ensure that more of these items are diverted from landfills, they need to do what beer and wine producers have done for years. Convert the Eco fee to an Eco deposit, with flat fees depending on the size of the items, which can be refunded when the products are brought to a recycling depot. That way, those who don’t recycle pay for the cost of running the program.

That would be too much like providing a real incentive and returning some of the cost of the effort to the consumer. Heaven forbid the taxpayer come out even when a cash grab is more fun.

This debacle was started by the Harris Conservative government and advanced under the McGuinty Liberals. This is one more nail in the Liberals coffin in Ontario. Since I wont vote for Hudak (Mike Harris lite) I may yet have to hold my nose and vote NDP in the next election.

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As the volcano in Iceland continues to spew forth ash and the cloud continues to spread itself across Europe and now apparently to the eastern shores of North America I’ve wondered how long the airlines would be tolerant of the prudence being shown by the air traffic controllers.

I’m going to say at the outset, I have never flown on an aircraft and at this point in my life have never had a need to. I have on occasion turned my vehicle into a flying vehicle due to lead footitis but I’ve never left the ground.

I’m sure millions of travellers stuck in countries they are trying to leave would certainly like to see planes flying to get them home. Over the weekend some European airlines sent up test flights through the volcanic ash cloud. At this point, they seem to be claiming their planes returned without any problems or damage.

Affected airlines are losing millions of dollars a day as this situation continues to drag on. Weather forecasters are now saying this will likely continue for days at a minimum and possible weeks depending on how long it takes this volcano to settle down. Meanwhile a NATO F-16 who flew through the cloud area reportedly has sustained damage to its engines.

From the material I’ve read, most volcanoes initial eruption sends ash cloud into the air and then it settles as the volcano sends out molten lava. The Iceland volcano is erupting within a ice-field which means that the lava is being cooled by the ice which it hasn’t been able to instantly melt, this sends more and more ash cloud into the sky.

Weather patterns, not just winds, move the cloud around. Right now a high pressure system extending from Newfoundland to Iceland is pulling cloud from Iceland towards Canadian shores as it turns in a clockwise pattern. Two low pressure systems are sitting just below that high pressure and are moving counterclockwise. At least one of those lows will pull some of the cloud out of the high and down the eastern US seaboard.

And we thought there was chaos happening in Europe.

It appears that winds and weather patterns are capable of moving this grit filled cloud farther and faster than expected just as airlines are getting really anxious about the millions they are losing.

Were their test flights successful or are they wilfully overlooking effects which could potentially have devastating effects on planes making their way through the skies? Will world governments give into pressure from airlines and stranded passengers to get them to their destinations?

Even more frightening will be the prospect of planes full of hundreds of passengers at a time playing Russian roulette in the name of world commerce. Mother nature has a devastating way of showing us just who is in control doesn’t she?

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The Globe & Mail is reporting Monsanto & Dole are wanting to tinker with vegetables, and are undertaking a five year project to do so. The objective is to “improve the nutrition, flavour, colour, texture and aroma of these vegetables,” the companies said.

Leave my veggies alone dudes! When is governments going to wake up to the fact that genetically and chemically messing with our food supply is not only killing our environment but it is killing us? Literally.

As long as huge firms like Monsanto and Dole are allowed to mess with our food, our ability to avoid their impact becomes increasingly imposible. Monsanto produces seeds, so growing your own vegetables to avoid the tinkered with versions will become increasingly impossible.

Farmers currently find themselves locked into buying cycles with Monsanto seeds which requires they buy seed from them each year as they have genetically modified the seeds to only grow for one season. In the past, when nature was allowed to actually function as it was created, one crop could be used to seed the next years crop. Not when Monsanto got through messing with them.

I do my best to avoid processed foods but with companies like these being allowed to tinker with even the most basic of foods like vegetables the ability to avoid the chemical and genetic tinkering diminishes exponentially.

What a screwed up mess!

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Waste Diversion Ontario has come up with a plan that should see electronic waste diverted from landfills and into recycling programs. The plan comes with an estimated cost of about $62million which is expected to be financed through fees consumers would pay at the time of purchasing their electronics.

Fees are also being suggested to fund the disposal of old vehicles tires. Although many retailers have been charging $5 / tire for disposal for many years now. Which begs the question, if the government hasn’t been collecting that $5 / tire, who has? If the government does actually impose a disposal fee for tires will retailers then be stopped from collecting the current fee in addition?

Although many will view this as imposing yet another tax on Ontarians, it is one that can be controlled. If you don’t want to pay it, then don’t buy the electronics. Although I can ill afford anyone else dipping into my pocket, at the same time, someone has to pay for the costs associated with environmentally safe disposal and why not me as a user?

The laptop I’m writing this post on would cost me an additional $2.14 under the current proposal. That is not a huge price to pay to move my old piece of equipment into a recycling program. I’d rather see consumer goods being able to be broke down and some parts remanufactured than them filling our landfills with their often deadly toxins.

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Most Canadians would think of smog and smog days as something that originated in the late 20th century. In fact, the term ‘smog’ was coined back in 1905. Back then Dr. Henry Antoine Des Voeux delivered a paper to the Public Health Congress in London, England about the air in London. He noted there was a health threat inherent in urban living due to the pervasive presence of a “smokey fog” or “smog”.

In this country concerns were being raised about smog in 1946 during the debate over the building of the Spadina Expressway in Toronto. They even started a committee to investigate the long term of effects from smog in the preceding two years. A report in the Toronto Star said, “Toronto’s struggle with smoke-laden air will apparently continue for some time” It noted that the study group was planning to implement “public education” – “an admittedly slower way of addressing the problem,” it added.

Little did those forming the committee and the author of the Toronto Star report know just how slow that “public education” would be. The smog that covers much of the province, city and rural, these days has a different chemical makeup but is no less lethal. The way scientists squabble and politicians fiddle over the issue these days, I wonder how much truly will change in the next 50 years.

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It appears the party who ran on a platform of ‘law and order’ and ‘those who obey the rules benefit’ are about to have their standards tested. The House of Commons yesterday passed a law compelling the government (aka the Conservatives at the moment) to honour Canada’s commitment to Kyoto. The bill passed yesterday has to yet pass the Senate which is predominantly Liberal and as such will likely pass it fairly quickly.

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So let’s see, last year (and it is a year ago) the Tories came to power with a minority government. Not long afterwards they quietly killed about 100 environmental programs that the Liberals had put into place. Some hadn’t yet kicked in some were running rather well. They also made it pretty clear they have no intention of honouring the Kyoto accord to which we signed on.

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