Dalton McGuinty has announced that he will be taking the PST off of the sale of bike helmets and bikes (up to $1,000… I guess he supports biking, but not competitive biking) as of December 1st.
To me, this is one of those political decisions that you can’t help but look at and laugh. First, I’m generally very skeptical of the effect a PST tax break will have on the purchase of bicycles. (“Wow… the PST has been taken off. Now I’ll by that bike I’ve been wanting for years!!”) More importantly, though, I think it’s unfortunate when politicians lend their support to an important issue – here, sustainable transportation methods – through completely token measures.
Sustainable transportation is an issue that needs government aid. There has to be investment in public transportation (with a capacity to take bicycles on board). There has to be a commitment to building fewer roads, but more bike paths, light rail tracks and subway lines. These involve serious financial commitments (which, to be fair, McGuinty has been better than most) and aren’t helped at all by token expenditures like this one.
I’m glad to see that the McGuinty government feels that bike transportation is an issue worth supporting (I would hope so, given that I happen to know that his son is a member of the U of O Environmental Law Students’ Association ). I just hope that next time he will try to win his political points on real investments, not small ones with questionable effectiveness.
I don’t know if I agree with this … I don’t think people will necessarily say -hey, I can buy that 400 dollar bike now that it only costs $420 instead of $452, but it is a sign that the government does appreciate the issue. If this is all that the government is doing, then yes it is a token gesture. If they are going to go further and announce other measures in conjunction with it (such as grants to the various transit authorities to add more bike racks on busses, grants to municipalities to add bike lanes, bike controlled lights etc., encouragement to corporations to put in showers etc.) then it is a good thing. A sign that the government WANTS us to bike. And hey, I just bought a bike and wish that I could have got that 8% off.
To problem, though, Chris is that usually token gestures by governments aren’t a prelude to a stronger commitment, they’re a replacement. If a government is going to make a serious funding commitment (to cycling, to public transit, etc.) then it usually forgoes the marginal, token measures.