TORONTO — MPP Guy Bourgouin's private member's bill designed to make winter driving safer on Highways 11 and 17 in Northern Ontario passed its second reading, Thursday, at Queen's Park.
The Ontario NDP is calling it "an important stage," for the bill that, if passed, would see the major northern highways cleared of snow within eight hours, and elevated to the same winter maintenance classification as the QEW and 400 series highways.
"This is a good step for the people of Northern Ontario who need and deserve safer winter highways. The Ford government should have acted years ago to clear out highways on time to protect drivers and their families," states Bourgouin, the NDP representative for Mushkegowuk–James Bay.
See related: Private member’s bill would force Province to clear Highway 17 and 11 within eight hours of a snowfall
The snow removal classification standards of the Ministry of Transportation depend on the type of highway and traffic volumes, not on climate or vehicle size and weight. If recognized as Class 1 by the MTO, Highways 11 and 17 would be maintained according to the strictest requirements for snow removal, requiring that the pavement on both two- and four-lane sections be bare of snow within eight hours of the end of a snowfall.
In December 2021, Bourgouin re-introduced the private member’s bill after a similar one from 2019 failed to pass as ministers representing three northern ridings, including Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli, skipped the vote and it was defeated.
See: Northern PCs bail on highway safety bill vote
"Doug Ford’s northern ministers Greg Rickford, Ross Romano, and Vic Fedeli all skipped the vote, preferring to toe Ford’s line rather than stand up and protect northern families," stated Bourgouin then.
Bourgouin is hoping for a different outcome this time around.
"This government must not sit on this bill and let it die in committee Each day that goes by means more drivers are risking their lives on the ice and snow of our uncleared highways. Doug Ford and the Conservatives must act now and pass this bill so that all Northerners can finally have safer highways during our long winters."
Speaking Friday, Fedeli confirms he was in the House and voted yes for the second reading on Bourgouin's bill and defends the Ford government's response to the situation.
"The Liberal government had 15 years to improve winter maintenance standards on Northern highways but instead did nothing. Since our PC government took office," Fedeli says, "we have made safety on Northern highways a priority, and our track record on winter maintenance proves this. There will always be exceptional circumstances during a winter storm.
"That said, our review of winter maintenance operations on Highways 11 and 17 in 2020 confirmed that we are meeting or exceeding all clearing standards for these highways. Ontario also has the highest standards for achieving bare pavement after a snowfall compared to any other province in the entire country."
Bourgouin's fellow party member and MPP for Timiskaming–Cochrane John Vanthof has been a strong advocate for changes to winter highway maintenance in the north for years, including in 2019. Vanthof recently addressed a letter to Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney outlining the frequent highway closures in the north that can be at least partially attributed to "roads that remain treacherous for travel."
See also: NDP blasts Conservatives over northern winter road safety
Vanthof encourages Mulroney to increase support for OPP and MTO enforcement and to take the steps to ensure the proper training of drivers, a measure the Auditor General of Ontario identified "but it appears no action was taken by the Government to remedy the problem."
Thursday at Queen's Park, Vanthof presented Mulroney with the photos found below to demonstrate the uneven regulation of winter road maintenance in the north.
These are the photos that I gave to Minister @C_Mulroney in the Legislature.
— John Vanthof (@john_vanthof) February 25, 2022
Highway 11 reopened after a major storm @ 11:45PM.
photos taken @ 2:15PM the next day, 1 km apart.
Same highway, same storm; different contractors.
Does this look safe to you?@BourgouinGuy #onpoli pic.twitter.com/9f6U0lsNiD
Now that it has passed its second reading, Bill 59 (An Act to amend the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act to make northern Ontario highways safer) will move to the committee stage. According to the Legislative Research Service, this is an opportunity to call witnesses, examine the bill in detail and make amendments. Once the parts of the bill have been considered, the committee votes on the bill as a whole, and whether to report it to the House. If so directed, the Chair of the Committee reports the bill to the House and it is ordered for a third reading, the final stage of a bill’s consideration in the House. It is then Members decide whether the bill will pass. Debate at this stage focuses on the final form of the bill. the passage of a bill by the Legislature requires the assent of the Sovereign (or her representative). Royal Assent takes place in the House or in the chambers of the Lieutenant Governor.
The state of northern roads has been a hot-button issue this winter, as it is most years. The national fledgling Truckers for Safer Highways campaign followed on the heels of another highly publicized online petition with a focus on safety on the northern stretches of Highways 11/17, circulating since late 2021. That petition has approximately 15,000 signatures, up 4,000 since early in the year.
"We believe the public is at a high risk of injury or death each time they enter a major transportation route within Canada," said Travis McDougall of Truckers for Safer Highways recently. "There are more inexperienced drivers on our highways than experienced. Unfortunately, that issue is compounded with rapidly changing weather conditions and over-confidence and poor judgment in making safe choices while operating commercial vehicles."
