Had to go get one of my vehicles drive-cleaned this morning. As usual, despite being a 15 year-old high-miler SUV... it came back cleaner than a shark's tooth.
I guess Dalton's smiling though... because he apparently pockets almost 75% of that fee. The garage where I got it done says they make about eleven dollars a pop on these things... a far cry from the 60 bucks an hour they could make if that drive bay was available for general repairs.
Now, being the suspicious character that I am... I went to the Drive Clean website and found...
"How will I know if the test results and repairs are fair?"Now, that's funny... like so many of the government's iron-clad assurances... this one seems a little over the top.
"First, to be accredited, Drive Clean facilities have computerized, tamper proof equipment approved for the Drive Clean program, and staff that are certified for emissions testing and/or repairs."
A buddy of mine, whose son-in-law is in the business... tells him that some entrepreneurs down in Scarberia have found a way around the skimpy profit margin thing.
For an extra twenty or thirty bucks, you can go to one of the many hole-in-the-wall car dealerships that blot out the Scarborough landscape and they'll run their shill car through the machine with your VIN number. Apparently, you can also do stuff like pour a litre of ethanol into the tank and fool with the timing, or have the garage duct tape an extra catalytic converter to the exhaust pipe to achieve a pass.
I also heard that the McGuinty government collects over 50 million dollars a year from the program, so don't expect it to end anytime soon.
Anyway... best not to dwell on the bad stuff. I'm done for a while.
**********
RELATED: Promises, promises... Dalton's "green world"
Ontario won't shut down its worst polluting power plant as early as it planned because it still needs the power the old, coal-fired generator produces.*
The province's coal-fired plants cause up to 668 premature deaths, 928 hospital admissions and 1,100 emergency room visits each year, an analysis released in April said.
The Nanticoke announcement may add to the image of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty as a promise-breaker. His Liberal government budget last year broke a pledge not to raise taxes.
