Taxpayers' lobby group demands removal of federal anti-deficit tax on gas

Hope you tanked up last night.  Gas prices in the Montreal area jumped ten cents a litre overnight and are hovering now around a buck-39.  The Quebec Taxpayers League is angry that the federal government is still collecting a surtax imposed in the mid-90s to deal with a budget deficit.  Claire Joly says the cent-and-a-half per litre surtax has to go, seeing as how Ottawa hasn't had a deficit since 1998.
But how likely is it that Ottawa will give up the revenue?  Not likely, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.  Spokesman John Williamson spoke this morning to CJAD's Andrew Carter.  He says only public pressure will convince Ottawa to eliminate the surtax.
Williamson estimates that Canadians have forked out six billion dollars on the deficit-surtax since the federal deficit was elimated a decade ago.