Environment Minister John Baird said today the government will give the Toronto-based Clean Air Foundation $92 million over four years to run a national vehicle "scrappage" program. (http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/436973)

More wasted dollars. Aren't conservatives supposed to REDUCE government spending?

I don't know about other provinces but Ontario has a program called drive clean where we are forced to have our emissions checked every couple of years.

If the government was serious, they would just say, "if your car fails the drive clean" then it can't be licensed.

Why do we need another bureaucracy?

P.S. I believe cars that spew pollutants should be taken off the road, what I object to is overlapping provincial and federal programs, neither of which does the job, and creates needless bureaucracy!

Yes, another misplaced programme. Most really old cars are collector items and are not driven much. The ones that can't pass the drive clean, should fixed or off the road. The ones that don't require drive clean are probably pretty few since that's getting pretty old and are probably cars that are also not driven much if they've lasted this long.

One item they often forget to mention is that if the car is working well, it should really be used until it "dies" since a lot of energy and pollution goes into creating a vehicle in the first place - I believe roughly as much energy and pollution as the car creates in its lifetime. There are laws that can also handle really old "beaters" that spew visible pollution - blue smoke, etc.

The only major item that should perhaps be retired before it wears out is an old inefficient refrigerator, or a "beater" as mentioned above.

Actually I think this is very astute. There are thousands of old gas guzzlers that need to be retired. You might not notice it around your area where cars are cheaper, but out this way (even with a high standard of living), there are plenty fo clunkers.

Should also be noted that the age limit for vehicles in Ontario for mandatory emission testing is 20 years. If your car is 20 years old or older, you are not required to take an emission test any more. I never really understood the logic in this. A 1988 car that surely pollutes more than a 1998 car will now not require to do an emission test. And the 1998 car, which pollutes far less, if a driver wants to renew his or her plate they must do an emission test every two years. And let's not even talk about the old classic collector cars or the pony cars that don't even have any kind of emission control systems. They too are exempt.

Actually I think this is very astute.

So you think having a second bureaucracy to replicate what the provincial government is doing and to add needless costs to consumers and taxpayers is astute.

Can you please explain that thought process?

I think Nanuuk is talking about provinces that do not have a "drive clean" program. In this case I think Ontario would opt-out of the program so there would be no overlap.

FYI in Quebec once a vehicle is registered it does not have to be mechanically inspected at regular intervals or pass any emissions testing.

In this case I think Ontario would opt-out of the program so there would be no overlap.

Wouldn't it be smarter if Canada had one program that was universal rather than having multiple programs in multiple province each with different rules? I don't see how a patchwork of programs is sound.

IMO, federal politicians are more interested in making grand announcements and spending taxpayers money than they are in developing a sound intelligent policy that is cost effective and works for all Canadians.

Wouldn't it be smarter if Canada had one program

Yes. Are you listening RQ?

Well perhaps this is the start of provincial program replacement with a federal one. It's gotta start somewhere. If Ontario and BC convert their programs to a new federal one then there is no more duplicity, if not then you are definitely correct about wasted tax dollars and redundant bureaucracy.