2% 'carbon fee' is off the menu at Toronto’s Goodfellas restaurant after public backlash

Nestled in west-end Toronto, Goodfellas restaurant is a gem of an eatery for those who relish consuming authentic Italian cuisine. As well, the staff are friendly and the ambiance is divine.

So, what’s not to love?

Well, recently, Goodfellas added a so-called “carbon fee” to the bill. So, in addition to the du rigueur government-mandated taxes that are already added to the cheque, Goodfellas imposed a 2% fee as a means of offsetting the restaurant’s carbon footprint.

Surely Environment and “Climate Change” Minister Stephen Guilbault and his ilk were no doubt delirious that a private business would go to such lengths to help save Mother Earth from the “climate crisis” (or is it the “climate emergency”? Would you believe, “climate catastrophe”?)

But judging by the online outrage of consumers, this carbon fee was about as popular as a bowl of E. coli with a side order of botulism.

Little wonder: so many Canadians are already struggling with raging inflation. And the federal government’s “real” carbon tax is set to increase – again – next month (fittingly, on April Fool’s Day.) And now even more fiscal indignity? Please, pass the Eno…

Surprisingly, a private business adding such a surcharge is in no way illegal. Thus, Goodfellas was on solid legal ground when it applied its 2% carbon fee.

As for the ostensible police reason for adding such a fee, the eatery’s website explains that “what we eat fuels climate change. Goodfellas uses certified D.O.P. [Denominazione di Origine Protetta, a.k.a., “Protected Designation of Origin”] products from Italy to remain true to the brand, and it’s not always possible to buy locally. Adding 2% to every restaurant bill to invest in carbon capture will help offset our carbon footprint.”

However, when we dropped by Goodfellas for a bite last Wednesday evening, we discovered a pleasant surprise when presented with the cheque: that whiz-bang 2% carbon fee was nowhere to be found.

A staffer explained that public backlash forced the restaurant to cancel the fee, at least for now. In the future, he said, the carbon levy might be brought back as a voluntary, as opposed to mandatory, fee.

In that respect, Goodfellas are indeed being good fellows by axing this surcharge. Canadians are already overtaxed by all levels of government. There is little appetite for independent businesses piling on as well. Thus, should the restaurant bring back the carbon fee as a voluntary surcharge, that’s fine. But for us, we’re more than happy that the fee is currently extinct. In other words, Goodfellas, when it comes to our bill, please: hold the virtue-signalling…