Northern highway safety bill defeated
Ontario’s NDP vows to continue to push the government for safety improvements on Highways 11 and 17.
This after Bill 49 was defeated this week at Queen’s Park.
Along with ensuring scales and inspection sites were staffed daily for at least 12 hours, the bill called for sufficient staffing for OPP enforcement, for ministry examiners to conduct truck driver testing and certification, and to return direct management of winter road maintenance in the north to the ministry.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles says this was the number one issue everywhere she went in the north during the February election.
“The fact that the province, that Doug Ford doesn’t get that, that they’re more focused on a tunnel he wants to build under a highway near Toronto tells you everything you need to know about their priorities,” she says. “For people in Northern Ontario, our highways are our main streets. Our highways are the necessary connect between us and getting healthcare, for moving things in our daily lives. The government should know this. The MPPs elected there, the Conservatives should know this, and they should be supporting this.”
Stiles also weighed in on Thursday’s fall economic statement and what she wants to see for Ontarians.
“For Northerners I’d love to see them take up what we’ve been proposing on northern highways, but we’ve got to save some jobs,” she says. “I don’t see a forestry strategy. I don’t see a jobs plan.”
Stiles says she’s been asking for a plan every day since the Legislature returned.
“What is the government doing to save jobs now,” she asks. “Not projects that are going to take us 30 years, I mean, okay, fine but we need to save jobs now and we need to save our forestry sector.”
Stiles also says she doesn’t want to see a lot of talk about cuts at a time when people are feeling the affordability crunch.
“People are really having a hard time, and I want to see some measures that are going to make life more affordable for people,” she says.
The 2025 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review will be released on Thursday.
Richard Coffin has been a reporter and news anchor on the radio in North Bay for over 25 years. From premiers to people in the neighbourhood, he enjoys connecting with newsmakers and writing stories that matter to area listeners on a variety of topics including healthcare, education, politics, sports and more.
