City's executive committee rejects proposal

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Toronto won't be imposing a tax or levy on bottled water any time soon, Toronto's powerful executive committee has decided.

The committee voted to simply receive the proposal, from Ward 13 (Parkdale-High Park) Councillor Bill Saundercook, after hearing from various industry group and receiving advice from city lawyers that such a levy was likely legally impossible.

Saundercook had brought up the possibility of imposing the tax on bottled water as a way to raise additional revenue during the debate over the land transfer tax and vehicle registration tax.

At the time, the proposal was ruled out of order, but made headlines last week when Mayor David Miller wrote the committee he chaired, requesting the matter be considered for a report.

In the end, however, the committee decided it wasn't even worth that - despite a plea from Saundercook that the tax would cover the cost of recycling and encourage people to use plentiful and inexpensive city water.

"I want yo urge all members of the executive to at least support a report," said Saundercook. "I'm not one to support a tax hike. But 1,000 tonnes is the weight of bottles that were recycled in Toronto last year. We're not talking about small numbers."

But others poured water on the plan.

Ward 3 (Etobicoke Centre) Councillor Doug Holyday said that simply floating the plan caused unnecessary panic.

"We should have a committee that vets these ideas before they're made public," he said. "We've got a sin tax for buying a house, a sin tax for driving a car, and now a sin tax for water?"