MPP blames Stewardship Ontario for confusing eco fee

An area MPP is blaming Stewardship Ontario for confusion surrounding the implementation of new eco fees this Canada Day.

Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry Michael Gravelle (Lib., Thunder Bay-Superior North) said the independent organization in charge of administering the fees accepted responsibility for poorly communicating the information to retailers.

"That’s why there was such a disparity in some of the fees that were charged," he said Thursday. "They had a responsibility to make sure the public understood this was coming in terms of the new items to be put on the list and secondly that the fee structure should have been clear. It was not only not clear, it was left to industry to make some decisions they weren’t prepared to do and in some cases charging people exorbitant fees that were absolutely inappropriate."

Eco fees, under the Waste Diversion Act, came into effect in 2008 on items like paint and solvent. On July 1, 22 more household items were added to the list; the new additions include everything from batteries and dish soap to fire extinguishers.

The eco fees do not go to the government, Gravelle said, but rather to the industry to recycle hazardous waste and keep it out of landfill systems.

"The unfortunate part of the process clearly has been the extraordinary level of confusion about the fees that are going in place," he said.

For example, on one litre of dish soap, the eco fee would only be 0.02 cents. Some retailers were charging upwards of 43 cents.

The Canadian Press reported earlier this week that Canadian Tire has apologized for charging inconsistent and excessive eco fees. A company spokesperson said it was due to an error in programming at its point-of-sale computer systems.

The store has said it will reimburse customers for the difference between the incorrect and correct fee.

Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin and his team are also examining whether a full investigation into the matter is needed after opposition leaders have called into question the implementation of the tax.

The Star said Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath wrote Marin telling him of complaints she received over the confusion. And Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak has pledged to repeal the eco fees if elected and called on the auditor general to immediately conduct an audit of Stewardship Ontario, according to a press release from MPP Randy Hillier (PC, Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington).

"I find it somewhat ironic and just plain strange that Tim Hudak, the leader of the Conservative Party, is being so critical of this program and I think even threatening to cancel it when it was his government that put it in place," Gravelle said, adding the Waste Diversion Act was brought in by the PC government in 2002 and supported by all parties.

The eco fees are important and Ontarians have always been paying for using toxic products, said EcoSuperior executive director Ellen Mortfield.

"There’s been a cost attached to safe disposal of these items for a long time," she said. "It just hasn’t been all that visible to us. If they were thrown away into a landfill, the cost came to us in terms of degraded water quality."
She also said the program might also encourage people to use more environmentally friendly products when they see the eco fee on their receipts.

"I think there’s some products on that list that we can probably live without," she said. "I’d like to see people using alternatives. There are some things we can’t live without but it’s good to know there are reasonable mechanisms in place for people to make sure they get disposed of safely rather than just pouring them down the drain or tossing them in the garbage."