Vanthof releases his Northern Plan for Safer Highways

By Richard Coffin

A New Democrat MPP says he wants to see all new truck drivers in Ontario tested through the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) and not their employers or third-party private companies. 

Timiskaming-Cochrane MPP John Vanthof says poorly trained commercial vehicle drivers and the companies they work for are putting all other drivers at undue risk. 

“If you’re going to drive a commercial vehicle in Ontario, people should be sure that the people that hold that license actually can drive that vehicle,” says Vanthof. “One way to ensure that is make sure that they go through an MTO test.” 

In his ‘Northern Plan for Safer Highways’, he says if student drivers can’t pass a legitimate road test, then driving schools need to be forced to change how they conduct business. 

In the mid and long-term, Vanthof wants to see the MTO take over management of maintenance operations in the province, by working with contractors and providers throughout the North, and see Highway 11 and 17 updated to four lanes where it is possible.  

He says that goal would take years and successive governments to achieve but says the TransCanada Highway is no longer equipped to move goods and people safely in Northern Ontario. 

In the shorter term, he’s encouraging the Ford government to adopt the 2+1 system of more passing lanes. 

“If we have more passing lanes, we’ll make it much safer and then as we get more traffic, maybe more passing lanes can turn into a divided four-lane.” 

Another proposal is to put more emphasis on using rail to move goods. 

**With files from Bob McIntyre and Brad Aubin 

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