Wawa Firefighter’s Story: #Hwy17 Conditions Take Another Young Life (Video: MPP Mantha Reads)
Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Michael Mantha
While the Liberals and Conservatives continue to battle it out in a “he said, she said” libel lawsuit over gas plant scandal accusations; New Democrats continue to listen to your concerns and take action.
This week my colleague MPP Sarah Campbell, Kenora Rainy River, used her Private Members slot to put forward a motion to establish a Select Committee on Winter Road Maintenance and Contracts. I can tell you that over the winter months my office has been flooded with complaints regarding the dangerous road conditions throughout Algoma-Manitoulin and northern Ontario. Many of you took photos of the roads you were travelling and sent them in. New Democrats launched the Northern Road Report in 2011 and have continued to collect information and complaints. We routinely take these photos and complaints and present them to the Ministry of Transportation as evidence of the broken road maintenance system in Ontario.
In February of 2014, MTO announced financial discipline for four contractors in northeastern Ontario and three in the northwest. While we welcome this sort of accountability and penalty given for failing to provide service, we believe that measures need to be taken to ensure that this doesn’t continue; especially when people’s lives are at risk.
Continued privatization of winter road maintenance has resulted in more road closures and heightened the risk to motorists. Northerners are experiencing more closures than ever because roads are not being cleared in a timely manner. As northerners we know we have to travel longer distances to get to services and we face longer and harsher winters which makes it much harder to get around. The Liberals have lowered the standards in the new performance based contracts and it is unfair that they are putting a price tag on safety.
Currently, the province hires contractors to plow and salt the roads; however, the province doesn’t tell these contractors how many trucks to use or how many employees they should have but judges their work on whether or not the roads are cleared and the plows are running. The province has different standards for different classifications of roads. Those classifications range from “Class 1” to “Class 5.” Classification of the road will determine the timeframe for clearing and salting.
As northerners we understand that we will face harsher winters and the inevitable snowstorms. However, when the government continues to privatize services to companies who fail to provide the service, it’s unacceptable. Too many people have lost their lives in tragic accidents like the one I spoke about in the legislature this week. Hear one Wawa Volunteer Firefighter’s story via the video on the right. Too many first responders have witnessed the carnage resulting from poor road conditions, and too many families have lost their loved ones. As legislators it is our responsibility to ensure that our provinces’ winter road maintenance system is working, and contractors are fulfilling their obligations, and most importantly that drivers are safe. This debate and vote will continue next week.
- Motion debate will begin around 12:45pm CST, 1:45pm EST, Thursday, April 17, 2014
- Voting will take place around 3:15pm CST, 4:15pm EST, Thursday, April 17, 2014
- You can view the Queen’s Park webcast live stream here: http://ontla.on.ca/web/go2.jsp?page=/webcast/webcast_main&locale=en&menuItem=dandp_webcast
As always, please feel free to contact my office about this issue or any other provincial matters. You can reach my constituency office by email at mmantha-co@ndp.on.ca or by phone at 705-461-9710/1-800-831-1899.
MPP Michael Mantha, Algoma-Manitoulin
