Decision to charge military members for parking ‘abysmal’: Stoffer

One local MP says he’s outraged by a federal government decision to start charging military personnel and DND employees for parking at work.

NDP Veterans Affairs critic Peter Stoffer calls the move by the Harper government a slap in the face to the men and women in the Canadian Forces.

“Every single person who serves in our military deserves our utmost respect and our undying gratitude for the work that they do,” he said. “Now on these bases we’re going to start charging them for parking? I just find it wrong, absolutely wrong and I’m encouraging [Defence Minister] Peter McKay to go back to the cabinet and tell the Treasury Board and the Canada Revenue Agency to go pound sand and leave our brave men and women alone.”

A source with CFB Halifax tells News 95.7 they’ve already received some cost estimates which put the cost of assigned parking at the Halifax Dockyard around $80 a month. “Scrambled,” or first-come-first-serve parking will cost around $65 a month.

Stoffer says the decision is unacceptable and he’ll ask the Harper government to call off this new policy.  

“Constantly you hear the government and people saying ‘we support our troops,’ yet they turn around and are probably going to charge them for parking just to go to work,” he said. “I just find that quite objectionable. These are the heroes of our country, the men and women who are willing to risk their lives for you and I and now we’re going to charge them for their parking. I just find it abysmal.”

There’s no indication when then parking fees will be implemented.

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