The MPP for Mushkegowuk-James Bay says his private members bill to reclassify Highway 11 and 17 is important, and is not a case of partisan politics. Guy Bourgouin says his bill will allow for quicker response time to clean up and maintain northern highways from a winter storm, and also save lives. He adds that he’s been getting flooded with emails and phone calls from people who are upset about the condition of the highways, and the misinformation on the Ontario 511 website.
“They call to find out the condition of the roads,” he said. “511 is saying the road are bare and they are not. This misleads people to go on those roads potentially getting accidents potentially oh getting seriously injured.”
Bourgouin says something has to be done to make Highway 11 and 17 safer and calls on the government to take action.
“It makes sense,” he said. “If this government is serious about the economy and the rebound of the economy – this bill fits that need. We need to keep our roads safer and we need to keep our roads open.”
Second reading and full debate is expected to take place in February once Queen’s Park resumes after the Christmas Break.