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Ontario motorists starting next April will no longer have to pay $30 to have emissions tested in their older cars under the Drive Clean program that was roundly criticized as a tax grab when it was introduced 17 years ago.

“It’s been the longest overdue tax grab Ontarians have been subjected to by the provincial government,” John Chisholm, owner of Rose City Ford in Windsor, said Wednesday.

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The government announced plans to scrap the fee in its February budget, although it had not confirmed the date it was to take effect. An official with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change confirmed Wednesday the fee would be eliminated starting April 2017; the date’s confirmation was first reported by Automotive News Canada. Drive Clean was started in 1999 by the Mike Harris government.

Cars that are seven years or older will still be required to have a biennial emissions test for registration renewal, but will no longer be required to pay the $30 fee for the Drive Clean test, the official said.