Should Iqaluit vehicles be taxed based on engine size?

The sealift brings more vehicles than the city can handle.

Unless an effort is made by this government, the number of vehicles on our roads will cause health problems with the fumes. They will contribute to the damage of the roads and make maintenance impossible.

I suggested years ago that Singapore, a small island country overrun with vehicles, did have a similar problem.

By taxing cars and trucks based on the horse-power of the engine, Singapore drastically reduced the number of large cars on its roads.

The sight of huge pickup trucks in Iqaluit arriving on the ship every summer has become very common.

These huge pickup trucks are in most cases used only to carry minimum loads. By taxing vehicles based on the size of the engine, importing these large and unnecessary types of trucks would become an expensive option.

Because of the costs to the municipality of road maintenance, the city should collect the extra fees imposed or have the city be the agency responsible for vehicle registration.

The cost of registration should also include the cost of repatriating the vehicle to southern Canada at the end of its useful life.

The same formula should apply to anyone, private or otherwise, for the importation of sealift containers. These ugly unnecessary devices continue to make Iqaluit a dumping ground for these huge metal tin boxes.

Permits should be necessary to have a container on your property and a fee charged based on the square footage of the unit.

Bryan Pearson
Iqaluit

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