Redesign Ontario licence plate fee breaks to avoid giving owners of big fleets big bucks: NDP

Businesses included in free licence renewals Eligibility to renew licences for free online have been expanded to include vehicles owned by businesses, prompting criticisms from the NDP.

The licence renewal fee breaks that have put hundreds of dollars back in the pockets of regular drivers could still be leaving tens of thousands of dollars with people who own fleets of vehicles.

Last year, a refund program sent millions to people with more than five cars and wrote its largest cheque for $38,000 -- the equivalent of licensing about 160 cars for a two-year-period.

At the time, the rationale for the $2.24 billion program was to help Ontarians with the cost of living during the pandemic.

Now, licence renewals are free online and eligible vehicles have expanded to include vehicles owned by businesses.

The government could be foregoing revenue from people or businesses with fleets of vehicles and the program needs to change, charged NDP Finance Critic Catherine Fife in a legislature committee last week.

“The government has positioned this policy as a cost of living issue. Is someone who owns 82 cars facing a cost of living crisis?” Fife asked Finance Minister Peter Bethenfalvy.

“We’re not looking to redesign the program. We stand behind that program. I’ve talked to hundreds of families who thought it was timely relief,” Bethenfalvy shot back.

Fife was referring to a CTV News investigation last year that found the $2.24 billion refund of licence plate renewal fees was giving some drivers eye-popping rebate cheques.

Among them was car collector Steve Plunkett of London, Ontario who said he got $8,500 for his 82 cars.

About 21,000 people were refunded more than $1,200 — the equivalent of registering about 5 cars — for a total of $32 million.

The highest refunds were in the tens of thousands of dollars: one received $16,020.50, another received $19,096.50, and the largest refund was $38,779.50.

At the time, the refunds only applied to personal vehicles. Going forward, licence plate renewals for most vehicles have become free to do online, including vehicles owned by corporations.

But a question by CTV News to the Ministry of Transportation for a breakdown of whether big businesses are also getting big breaks on fees wasn’t answered.

And when we made a Freedom of Information request, we were told the information was so hard to get it would cost us $4,350. That would have been the equivalent of licensing about 36 cars for a year.

Fife said in an interview if big business is getting big breaks, there at least needs to be transparency about it.

“You have government handing out cheques to people who don’t need them,” Fife said of the refund program.

"For him to come back and say, 'We're fine with this,' goes against everything around fiscal responsibility," she said.

Reached at a press conference this week, Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney said the refund program was quick and effective.

“It made life better and easier for Ontarians. That was a big program for us. We were able to get over a billion dollars back into people’s pockets very quickly,” she said.

Reverend Francesca Schettini, who CTV News interviewed while filling up her vehicle, said she got a welcome cheque in the mail last year.

“I thought it was great. About time they should have done that. It was over $200 for me, and for my partner, we have three vehicles, so it’s a lot of money,” she said.

When told one person got more than $38,000, Schettini shook her head.

“First five cars, I agree. Anything after that should be in a different category. Who owns 100 cars?” she asked.