THUNDER BAY — Both Thunder Bay area MPPs emphasized highway safety priorities on Friday when speaking to the Thunder Bay District Municipal League.
“Highway safety is one area that I will continue to work on,” said Kevin Holland, Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP.
Holland stated he has reviewed the OPP statistics and seen an increase in motor vehicle collisions (MVC) on northern highways over the last two years.
“We're going to do everything we can to alleviate this situation here in Northwestern Ontario, but it's vital that we look at the information,” said Holland.
According to Holland, the OPP statistics show that a large percentage of MVCs are not caused by transports but by passenger vehicles that have been found at fault.
“We've increased safety blitzes on our highways with MTO (Ministry of Transportation) and OPP RIDE programs. In fact, the Thunder Bay detachment had the largest number of vehicle stops for RIDE programs during the Christmas season in 2024,” said Holland.
“We've hired more inspectors and continued to look at hiring more inspectors, but with all sectors in our society right now, finding the workers has been a challenge.”
Holland did address MVCs involving transports stating that he is in favour of a national licensing system; however, he noted another potential solution would be to have truck driving designated as a skilled trade.
“This isn't to punish anybody, but I feel it's a way that we can really enforce and make sure that the people that are getting behind the wheels of these trucks are capable of driving in conditions they're going to experience all across Canada,” said Holland.
Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP Lise Vaugeois offered a different take on highway safety.
Vaugeois had been a strong advocate for highway safety in her first term as MPP and she will continue that work in the next.
She said that private trucking companies are fast-tracking newcomers to get them on the road as soon as possible.
The shortage of workers in the trucking industry has prompted industry recruitment tactics of luring potential employees from foreign countries to come to Canada with the promise of permanent citizenship and a chance for a better life.
Vaugeois points out that her information is backed by the auditor general's report which found that there is “no mechanism to see whether that training is actually taking place.”
“The Ministry of Colleges and Universities downsize their inspection teams so they're actually only eight inspectors monitoring over 500 trade schools. There is no mechanism really to make sure that drivers are getting the training, and they need it,” said Vaugeois.
“We don't want to see new Canadians driving, dying on the roads and we certainly don't want to see anybody else involved in those accidents. So that's one of the places that we think could be changed. Testing and licensing needs to go back to where it is closely monitored and if that is taking place.”
She said that another side of the coin is staffing transportation enforcement. Inspection stations sit either understaffed or closed. Retainment of transportation enforcement officers is low due to low pay.
Vaugeois stated that most transportation enforcement officers come from Southern Ontario, get put up in hotels with paid meals, work, and move on.
“Transportation enforcement officer costs about $165,000 per new officer in terms of training, but then once they're in after about six months they can move over into a different ministry position, a different kind of inspection position that pays considerably more, so they're not staying,” said Vaugeois.
Vaugeois does agree with Holland that Canada needs a national licensing system, “but it doesn't stop us from plugging the holes in the system inside Ontario.”
