QUEEN’S PARK – During question period Wednesday, Oshawa MPP Jennifer French called on the Ford government’s Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney to follow through with her government’s election claim that it will remove the tolls from Highways 412 and 418.
“During the last Ontario election, Conservative candidates in the Durham Region promised to make taking the tolls off of the 412 and the 418 their first order of business,” French said. “Since the election, students, commuters, boards of trade, chambers of commerce, community groups, municipalities, and the New Democrats have made the case for the removal of tolls from the 412 and 418 – and it looks like this promise from the Ford government is nothing but hollow.”
In October 2018, MPP French kept her electoral promise to the Durham Region and tabled a private member’s bill called “Freeing Highways 412 and 418 Act,” (Bill 43) to legislate the removal of the tolls. So far, the Ford government has not let that bill become a law.
“It seems the Ford Conservatives have no intention of removing the tolls or doing right by the folks in Durham,” French said. “The Ford government appears to be kicking the can down the road, once again backpedaling on commitments made to people in Durham Region.
“Durham Region deserves transportation and transit that will keep up with our growth and potential.”