The Mining Association of Nova Scotia is lobbying the province to cut the tax they pay at the pumps for vehicles that are never used on roadways.

Mining Association of Nova Scotia a provincial lobby group made up of mines and quarries represents several companies locally, including Pioneer Coal and Weeks Construction. The organization has put in an appeal to the province that the mining sector get the same discounts already received by other resource-based industries like agriculture, fishing and forestry.

Mr Pat Mills president of MANS and president of National Gypsum in the Dutch Settlement area said that the tax has been in place since cars began going on the road in the 1920s.

The tax currently 15.5 cents per liter of diesel was initially put into place to help fund the construction of roadways, but vehicles like farm equipment, which typically don’t drive on roadways, are exempt from paying that tax, either by using dyed fuel or applying for a rebate.

Mr Mills said that the mining industry wants the same discount since mining vehicles aren’t used on the roadways either. Annually, the industry pays approximately USD 2.6 million in this tax alone.

Mr Mills said that “Our prices are always that much higher than our competitors in New Brunswick and Newfoundland because we have to incorporate that tax. We’re not on a level playing field right now.”

If the tax were eliminated, Mills said, it would send a strong message to the mining industry that they’re welcome to do business in Nova Scotia, something he said that is keenly lacking right now. Nova Scotia, he said, is the only province that does not exempt mining vehicles from this tax and neighboring provinces are significantly ahead of Nova Scotia in encouraging mining in their regions.

Mr Mills said that “Industry does not see Nova Scotia as favorable to mining adding that the ban on uranium and quarries on water are two other examples of that.”

(Sourced from www.ngnews.ca)