The provincial government’s tax credit for parents who pay for their children’s extra-curricular activities appears to have gone over like the proverbial lead balloon with Orangeville residents.

The credit, meant to complement the federal children’s fitness tax credit, will see families receive a tax credit worth up to $50 per child under 16 years of age, and up to $100 for a child under the age of 18 with a disability.

Unlike the federal program, the Ontario credit includes non-sports activities and would be refundable for low-income families not subject to income tax.

Several persons were interviewed during the Central Registration Tuesday night at the Alder Street Recreation Centre, where people were signing up for activities ranging from sports to the Boy Scouts to arts and music programs.

Their reaction to Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Monday announcement were, for the most part, negative.

“That McGuinty,” muttered Leo Daigle. “He’s taking dollars out of your front pocket and putting pennies in your back pocket.”

Mr. Daigle’s analogy was a reference to the province’s new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), which was being added to the cost of the programs offered at the registration. His annoyance is shared by critics of the tax credit, which they claim is Premier McGuinty’s lame response to the backlash against the HST.

“I question how much the cost is going to be for public servants to process those $50 tax credit,” wondered Dufferin- Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones in an interview Tuesday.

“It looks like an appeasement for the HST.”

Not everybody at Alder was as critical, however. The credit “will certainly, if anything, encourage parents who wouldn’t get their kids involved, normally,” said Rebecca Urion, the youth programmer for the Theatre Orangeville Academy.

She pointed out that such a credit would cover almost one third of the cost of the academy’s eight-week program.

The government’s proposed tax credit would allow parents to claim up to $500 of eligible expenses per child on sports, arts and other activities incurred on or after Jan. 1, 2010.

Families would receive a refundable tax credit worth up to $50 per child under 16 years of age, and up to $100 for a child under the age of 18 with a disability.

Laurianne Brown of the Mono Nordic Ski Club said the credit could also cover one-third of the cost of a club membership, but cautioned that it didn’t include the cost of equipment.

As well, Ms. Brown said Mono Nordic membership costs didn’t necessarily reflect those of similar clubs in the province.

“We’re informal,” she said. “Some other clubs are three times the cost of us.”

A woman associated with Skate Canada Orangeville, who asked not to be identified, pointed out that costs to the organization’s figure skating programs start at $250 and can run as high as

1,200 for the more intense senior programs.

She suggested the provincial government consider a different approach to funding children’s activities.

“I would rather see them put the money into the municipalities to lower ice fees, so we wouldn’t have to charge so much.”