The Ontario NDP is pledging to make highways in northern Ontario safer by widening some routes and ending private highway maintenance contracts.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles says if her party forms government, it will widen Highway 11/17 and Highway 69 in northern Ontario and bring snow clearance and highway maintenance back under public control.
She also vowed to upload the responsibility for some municipal roadways back to the province, increase training for truck drivers and fast-track passenger train projects in the north.
Stiles did not provide a cost estimate of her commitments, but says the province “can’t afford not to do this.”
Her announcement comes the day after the four main party leaders sparred in their first debate Friday in North Bay, Ont., where they discussed issues such as northern infrastructure, road safety and an addictions crisis that has hit many communities hard.
Meanwhile, Green Leader Mike Schreiner made a campaign stop in Huntsville, while neither Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford nor Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie had public events scheduled.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2025.
