OSHAWA - On the first day back at the legislature, Official Opposition MPP for Oshawa Jennifer French tabled her bill to permanently remove tolls from Durham highways 412 and 418. The provincial government still needs a bill to permanently remove the tolls — and French’s is done, already on the legislature’s docket, and ready to go.
“On behalf of my community and the people of Durham who have worked so hard to remove these tolls from our highways, I have submitted my bill to the government so they can use it to finally remove the tolls permanently from our highways,” said French. “We never took our foot off the pedal on this and we will continue working until this government frees our highways from tolls once and for all.”
The Ford government’s recent announcement of the removal of tolls from highways 412 and 418 starts in April, just before the election, and ends in May 2023. While that was a major victory for French, the Official Opposition, and the community, the government still requires a bill to remove the tolls permanently and French’s bill re-introduced on Tuesday would fill that requirement.
Despite having French’s bill to permanently remove the tolls since 2018, the Ford government never acted on it. They let the bill die in committee requiring French to table another bill for the permanent removal of the tolls.
“Premier Ford should have acted on my bill years ago to scrap the tolls for good. Instead, the people of Durham have been stuck in traffic with unused tolled highways left by Steven Del Duca and the former government. Premier Ford should have fixed this when he first stepped into office four years ago as he promised before the 2018 election. Now he can use my bill to finally free our highways and ease our congestion, permanently,” said French.