City of Iqaluit, Nunavut gov't consider vehicle import fee
Front-end cost would pay for disposing vehicle
It could become more expensive to ship a car north to Iqaluit, if city council has its way.
Iqaluit's council passed a motion Tuesday to support the territory charging residents an import levy on vehicles arriving into the city to help cover the cost of its eventual disposal.
The City of Iqaluit currently charges residents an end-of-life disposal fee. For $200, residents can have their vehicle's fluids drained, its battery and tires removed and disposed of, its body crushed and its remains shipped south.
However, the city is considering increasing the fee from $200 to $1,000 — the actual cost of prepping the vehicle for disposal then shipping it away.
But rather than trying to collect money from people after their vehicle has bit the dust, the City of Iqaluit is looking to the territory to implement a front-end cost for residents who ship up a car or truck.
It's something Iqaluit's mayor has already been in discussions with the Government of Nunavut's department of Community and Government Services.
"We would need them to change territorial legislation that would permit the levying of import fees on vehicles, rather than the current situation where the city can attempt to collect a disposal fee," said Madeleine Redfern.
And it's not just cars and trucks she's targeting.
"We didn't just speak to vehicles, we spoke to the need of possibly levying some sort of fee, as imposed in other jurisdictions for appliances, for tires. Right now, those fees are levied in those jurisdictions and then shipped up."
Provinces such as Ontario and Quebec charge environmental fees on some electronics, as well as a small fee on new tire purchases.
"Those disposal fees have actually been charged to the customer, but in that jurisdiction, and yet we are faced with the actual disposal of those items here with none of that disposal fee given to us," Redfern said.
Expensive waste
The city signed a $1.75 million contract with Kudlik Construction earlier this year to ship 30,000 un-compacted cubic metres of scrap metal south — including 167 vehicles and 20,000 tires.
Councillor Terry Dobbin proposed a motion at Tuesday night`s council meeting to temporarily reduce the fee from $200 to $100 for a short window, with the hopes it would encourage people to get rid of vehicles sitting around the city while it still has the contract with Kudlik.
The contract allows room for up to 500 vehicles, though any additional vehicles will cost the city more money.
Dobbin proposed lowering the fee until the end of September, so long as residents properly drain their vehicles and bring them to the dump.
"It's an incentive to get rid of some of those eyesores around town. I'd rather see them at the landfill than on the streets," he said.
But deputy mayor Romeyn Stevenson pointed out it would end up costing residents more money to bring a vehicle to a mechanic, have it drained, then towed to the dump — not to mention the issue of space.
"We're trying to get off of that temporary landfill site that we were supposed to be off of last year," he said. "It's not a place we can just store metal again. We're finished with that. Or supposed to be finished with that."
Dobbin's motion was defeated and for now the amount to dispose a vehicle remains $200.
But with the city talking about increasing costs, Redfern suggests not waiting around to do it.
"If anyone has vehicles to dispose of, I would do it sooner rather than later."
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