Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown accused the Liberal government of trying to quietly hike some drivers’ test fees over the Canada Day holiday.

Brown said his party’s researchers uncovered the increases while sorting through records and blew the whistle on the increases on Thursday. He slammed the government for hiking fees on a holiday.

“The Liberals’ way of celebrating Canada Day is new fee hikes and new taxes,” he said. “It’s so typical of Kathleen Wynne.”

According to the Ministry of Transportation, fees for all commercial drivers tests, for A-F licences, are set to increase in July 1. The fees will jump to just over $23. Brown says he’d like to see the costs rolled back by the government.

“We pay too much in Ontario,” he said. “Right now we give this government too much of our hard-earned money and they waste it ... Whether it’s giant rubber ducks or Canada Goose Jackets, this is a government that wastes money.”

Brown said this isn’t the first time the Liberal government has jacked up fees for drivers since Premier Wynne took office. Across the board, things like test costs and sticker renewal fees have increased dramatically, he said.

“Look at vehicle sticker renewal fees which have gone up 33% since she was premier,” he added.

Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca chided Brown for claiming the fees would also be applied to G1 and M1 tests. The minister stressed that those fees will remain the same - at $15.

Del Duca defended the increase for commercial testing. Those increases are needed to pay for new mandatory driver training to improve road safety, he said.

“They’re more exhaustive, more complex tests because now the training is mandatory. There is a fee increase for those individuals who now have to participate.”

On overall fee increases, Del Duca said the MTO has been moving toward full cost recovery when it comes to its systems.

“A number of years ago we received advice from Don Drummond who looked at a range of all the systems we have in place ... to make sure we brought the system towards cost recovery,” he said.

sjeffords@postmedia.com