Gas guzzlers favoured by Harper's Tories

This was one of the headlines for the Winnipeg Free Press on December 27. Apparently Stephen Harper has purchased 844 SUV's. They defended their purchase by saying that one third of them are hybrids. Personally I don't think that's good enough. I think that a least three quarters of them should be hybrids but I'd rather have all of them be hybrids. Actually, I'd rather them have a whole different vehicle that doesn't guzzle as much gas. This paragraph from the article shows how much the government's purchase of SUV's has increased in the past years -

Even as the government offers rebates to encourage Canadians to drive more fuel-efficient cars, its own spending on SUV's rose 88 per cent over the previous year. The Public Works Department ordered 844 new SUV's last year, a large leap from the 500 purchased the year before and the 366 in 2004-05, the last full-fiscal year under a Liberal government.

This section shows that other domestic departments are also purchasing SUV's -


Some domestic departments also made large SUV purchases, including the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which is responsible for ensuring the safety of Canada's food supply. The CFIA spent more than $3 million on SUV's last year, compared to $32,236 the year before, to replace an aging fleet of vehicles.
All but two of the SUV's purchased were hybrid engines.


So unlike the SUV's that Stephen Harper purchased, the CFIA's SUV's were almost all hybrids.

To see the original article in the Winnipeg Free Press visit the Gas guzzlers favoured by Harper's Tories article.