Queen’s Park is seeking Ottawa’s help with a tax change that could save Ontarians some green on eco-fees.

Finance Minister Charles Sousa has written to his federal counterpart complaining that “it is unfair to Ontario consumers” that sales tax is charged on top of the fees levied for recycling everything from electronics to tires.

“In Ontario, the federal government’s GST treatment of stewardship fees prevents individual stewards from recovering embedded tax amounts, unlike the treatment of stewardship programs in other provinces,” Sousa wrote to federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

The missive notes that Stewardship Ontario, Ontario Tire Stewardship, and Ontario Electronic Stewardship “are independent, industry-managed and operated non-profit organizations” that work with manufacturers and importers to “reduce the environmental impact of their products.”

“I request that the federal government bring forward the necessary changes to eliminate the unfair treatment of waste diversion organizations in Ontario. This will ensure the consistent tax treatment across the country for these programs that support important environmental objectives,” he wrote.

Since the 8 per cent provincial sales tax and the 5 per cent goods and services tax were melded into the 13 per cent harmonized sales tax in 2010, Ottawa has handled collection of the consumption levy.

Sousa’s letter does not point out that Flaherty was a senior Ontario cabinet minister when the recycling program was launched in 2002.

In the legislature Monday, Progressive Conservative MPP Michael Harris (Kitchener—Conestoga) blasted the Liberals for not doing enough to rein in eco-fees.

“There’s a growing chorus of voices, all telling you to dismantle your recycling monopolies, which, surprisingly, now even include the Toronto Star,” Harris thundered in the legislature.

“Everyone understands that these programs unfairly penalize consumers and unnecessarily restrain the ingenuity of the free market,” he said.

Environment Minister Jim Bradley, however, pointed out that Tory Leader Tim Hudak was the consumer minister when the program started more than a decade ago.

“You might call him the godfather of eco taxes in this province because he failed to protect the people of this province when that legislation was brought in,” said Bradley, adding the current government “is undoing the damage” from the existing Tory-created Waste Diversion Act of Ontario.