Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles took aim at the Conservative government today, claiming its inaction to prioritize road safety is leading to death on northern highways. including the "senseless fatalities of five Northern Ontarians within the past month."
"Nearly every day, we see Highways 11 and 17 closed due to a tragic collision," Stiles said at a news conference today. "The situation has spiralled so far out of control that people are scared to drive to work or to drop their kids off at school. Five deaths within the past month would be unimaginable in southern Ontario and should serve as a wake-up call.”
Stiles charges that while the "Ford Government is asleep at the wheel, northern Ontarians are paying with their lives."
"We've been working with truckers, other road users, and victims' families – who else does Ford need to hear from? The recent Auditor General's report affirmed everything people have been saying for years. These issues are not new... the Conservatives simply choose not to listen,” Ontario NDP MPP Lise Vaugeois said. “Unfortunately, we don't have other highways to bypass accidents and bad road conditions. We cannot continue to lose lives."
Some of Marit Stiles and the Ontario NDP’s solutions to improve Northern Highways:
- Ensure snow removal on Northern Ontario Highways meets the same standard as Southern Ontario significant routes.
- 24/7 staffing of truck inspection stations to ensure commercial drivers' and vehicles' competency and safety.
- Improve regulations of trucking schools and better-monitored training processes.
- Prohibit passing or attempting to pass another vehicle going in the same direction on a highway “Chads law”