TEMISKAMING SHORES – All roads seem to be converging into a brighter future for Highways 11 and 17, with the provincial and federal governments now coming together to support improvements to Northern roadways as a project of national interest.
A number of developments last week have supporters encouraged that a proposal to multi-lane the highways is finally gaining traction.
Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) past-president Danny Whalen said the provincial government has taken a “major step in the right direction” by reaching out to federal Minister of Transport Steven MacKinnon to seek support to “accelerate” widening of the two highways.
The veteran Temiskaming Shores councillor – one of the driving forces for FONOM’s campaign to three-lane the highways – told his municipal colleagues at their April 21 council meeting that the federal government has been on board with the idea as a project of national interest ever since he met with the federal ministry about a year ago.
“They expressed their full support for any actions that the province wanted to take with regards to Highway 11 and 17,” Whalen said.
On April 20, Ontario’s Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria and Ontario Minister of Northern Economic Development and Growth George Pirie sent a joint letter to MacKinnon urging federal support for the continued widening of the two highways.
“They have actually reached out to the federal government to talk about a partnership on the rebuilding of Highways 11 and 17,” Whalen said. “So it’s small steps, but to me this is a major step in the right direction. It’s a little bit of good news.”
Timiskaming-Cochrane MPP John Vanthof, a long-time advocate for Northern highway safety, also welcomed the provincial government’s movement on the issue. The NDP MPP said he was pleased to see the Ontario legislature adopt his motion on April 21, asking to formally declare the highway improvements a project of national interest.
“This is a win, but to make it worthwhile we will need to continue the fight for safer roads,” Vanthof said in a text interview with The Speaker.
“We have only just begun to fight.”
Vanthof said the origin of the motion was Prime Minister Mark Carney’s request to the provinces to bring forward projects of national interest.
“It was made in response to the change in relations to the USA. (Ontario Premier Doug) Ford put forward the tunnel under the 401. The NDP believes that the Trans Canada highway 11/17 would be a much better choice. It is the only road that links this country, and as we all know it is often closed and dangerous to drive on.”
Vanthof said the motion is “not legally binding but it does express the will of the (Ontario) legislature.”
“It is a step but not a solution. We believe that the federal government should help fund the rebuilding and expansion of the hwy11/17 corridor but we will continue to push the provincial government to live up to it’s responsibilities to keep our highways safe.”
Speaking in support of the motion in the Ontario legislature last week, Vanthof thanked his fellow MPPs from all parties for their support.
“It’s not often, after all, we all agree on something,” he said. “(But) we all agree 11/17 should be an issue of not only national significance, but I think provincial significance. We all have to work together,” he said.
Earlier in the week, Vanthof challenged the provincial government to deal with the “crisis” of highway safety, particularly in Northern Ontario.
“The one thing that shocked me, kind of, is how fearful people in the north are of the commercial truck drivers,” he told the provincial legislature.
“How does that happen that people who can’t drive trucks are somehow licensed in Ontario?”
MPP Hardeep Singh Grewal, parliamentary assistant to Minister Singh Sarkaria, responded, declaring that the provincial government considers road safety “as our absolute top priority.”
“Our government recognizes that Highways 11 and 17 are not only important to Northern Ontario but they’re critical components of the Trans Canada network that support the national supply chains and economic growth,” he said.
