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Percy Barrett, Opposition Environment and Conservation Critic and MHA for
the District of Bellevue, is questioning the way the Multi-Materials
Stewardship Board (MMSB) is spending the money raised by consumer levies.
"At a time when consumers are being charged a recycling fee for tires that
are being stockpiled all over the province, I have concerns about the MMSB
spending money to hire another staff-person as advertised in local papers,"
said Barrett. "Government already moved a high priced bureaucrat to the MMSB
last year at a cost of nearly $150,000 a year and now they’ve advertised for
another Director level position.
"With the former Deputy Minister of ITRD, John Scott, being recently
shuffled to the MMSB to serve as CEO to replace a part-time chairperson, I
find it hard to believe there is a need for two new high-paying positions
within this organization in the span of just one year. The Minister of
Environment and Conservation should explain the expenditure of consumer
levies to build up an expensive administrative bureaucracy.
"If there is such a surplus in the accounts at the MMSB, government
should be reducing the levies on beverage containers and new tires or coming
up with new programs. Consumers have been paying a $3 deposit on every new
tire, even though government has effectively shelved the program for more
than a year.
There is a willingness on the part of the public to pay these fees if
they know it is being used in a responsible manner to protect the
environment. If they see this money being wasted, it could undermine public
support for the whole program."
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