Ontario Environment Minister John Gerretsen, shown in this 2003 file photo, said his government is ending the controversial eco fee program. (Tobin Grimshaw/Canadian Press)

Ontario Environment Minister John Gerretsen confirms the province is scrapping its eco fee program, saying the government did a poor job of telling the public about the new fees.

CBC NEWS: July 20, 2010: Ontario Environment Minister John Gerretsen has confirmed that the province is dropping its eco fee program, saying he takes "full responsibility" for not doing a better job of communicating the introduction of the new charges.

The fees, which went into effect on July 1, applied to a wide variety of items, including batteries, soap, fire extinguishers and paint.

The fees were collected by manufacturers and retailers to help fund a recycling program that diverts those potentially hazardous items from landfills.

But there was no public warning that the eco fee would be slapped on thousands of new items this month.

"These new eco fees are gone," Gerretsen told reporters at a news conference Tuesday.

"That means all products added on July the 1st will not have any fee on them."

Stewardship Ontario, an industry-led organization appointed by the government to oversee the program, collected the fees from retailers and manufacturers.

Manufactures and retailers, in turn, determined which fees they would pass on to consumers.

"The bottom line is Stewardship Ontario could have done a better job for rolling out the changes, and we, the Ministry of the Environment, the government, and I as minister, could have done a better job of helping them communicate their changes, and I take full responsibility for that," said Gerretsen.

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Program being re-evaluated

People who have already had to pay eco fees since July 1 will not be refunded, Gerretsen said. All that money will go to Stewardship Ontario, he said.

Gerretsen couldn't say how much money has been collected by the agency since the start of the month, but stressed that "not one penny of this comes to the government."

The government will take 90 days to re-evaluate the program, he said. It will fork over up to $5 million during that time to keep the program going.

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The government signalled its reversal shortly after Canadian Tire announced Monday it would stop charging the fee because the program was too confusing.

The fees are part of a larger program called Orange Drop, which aims to make it easier for people to dispose of hazardous materials in a way that ensures they don't end up on the landfill.

The Orange Drop program in turn builds on the Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste Program, first introduced in July 2008, aimed at increasing diversion of hazardous materials. The program provides drop zones throughout the province where consumers can dispose of the products on the overall list.

In 2008, the government outlined nine categories of products that it said were designated for recycling and disposal. On July 1, 13 more categories of products were added to that list.

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President Barack Obama appears on the daytime TV talk show 'The View' in New York City July 28, 2010. From left are Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters, Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque /

Thu Jul 29, 2:14 PM :By Patricia Zengerle: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama tried to revive his common touch on Thursday with a mainly light-hearted appearance on daytime television where five women hosts grilled him about his Blackberry, Lindsay Lohan and the Afghan war.

His appearance was the first by a sitting U.S. president on a daytime talk show. It allowed Obama to appeal directly to a targeted audience as he fights flagging poll numbers while he and his fellow Democrats try to avoid big losses in the November congressional election.

"The View" typically draws 3-4 million viewers and is particularly popular with women who are home at its late-morning air time.

In a wide-ranging interview, Obama defended his Afghan war strategy and efforts to lift the country out of recession, but said he expected things would get better, if over time.

"If we get our mojo back over the next several months, then I am absolutely confident that we are going to be doing terrific, but we're going to have to make some fundamental structural changes as we go along," he said.

He said he was frustrated with the anger of political debate, and blamed the media for a recent "phony controversy" that led to the firing of a black Agriculture Department employee who appeared to be making racist comments in an edited videotape that was shown repeatedly by conservative media.

"When you feel as if every single initiative that we're doing is subject to Washington politics instead of 'is this good for the country,' that can be frustrating," he said.

WAR AND POP CULTURE

The Afghanistan war is worth fighting, Obama said, when asked about the recent leak of documents painting a bleak picture of the unpopular conflict, which bitterly divides his own Democratic party.

"If you've got chaos ... in this region where there's no functioning government and warlords and terrorist affiliates are able to operate, that is going to be that much tougher for us to make sure that they are not attacking us," Obama said.

Obama also showed he has some grasp of popular culture. He knew that actress Lindsay Lohan had been sent to jail, although he said he had not heard of "Snooki," the star of a popular reality television show, and dodged a question about tapes of angry telephone calls by actor Mel Gibson.

Obama also lamented his inability to enjoy technology.

He is the first president to use a Blackberry, but he can't enjoy the jokes and pictures that fill most inboxes.

"I have a Blackberry, but only 10 people have (access to) it," he said. "And I've got to admit it's no fun, because they think it's going to be subject to the presidential records act, so nobody sends me the juicy stuff."

(Editing by David Storey)

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Ontario eco fees officially scrapped

Ontario Environment Minister John Gerretsen, shown in this 2003 file photo, said his government is ending the controversial eco fee program. (Tobin Grimshaw/Canadian Press)

Ontario Environment Minister John Gerretsen confirms the province is scrapping its eco fee program, saying the government did a poor job of telling the public about the new fees.

Program being re-evaluated

Obama seeks his "mojo" on daytime TV's "The View"

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