Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory dismissed as "political show business" yesterday, the Liberal government's about-face on its stand on toll highways. The provincial government announced on Tuesday that it would own a new tolled extension of Highway 407 that will run through the provincial riding of Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock, where Mr. Tory is currently seeking a seat in a by-election.
As late as 2007, the provincial government ruled out new toll roads in the province.
In a phone call from a campaign stop in Lindsay, Ont., Mr. Tory said he did not believe Transportation Minister Jim Bradley's assertion that the announcement and the by-election were unrelated.
"They haven't done a thing on this in the last two years," Mr. Tory said.
In a press release, he called the timing of the announcement "convenient." Former Conservative MPP Laurie Scott, who resigned from the seat to let Mr. Tory run, had long called for the extension east to Highway 35/115.
At a press conference, Mr. Bradley denied the link. "I can tell you this has nothing to do with that whatsoever," he said.
Mr. Tory also slammed the government for not setting a faster timetable for the highway, which he called "a crucial economic infrastructure project" for the area. He said regulation and operation of the project should have been "wide open" to private bids and that the government missed an opportunity to leverage control of the new expansion in exchange for better toll rates on the entire highway.
A spokesperson for 407 ETR, the private company that owns the existing section of the highway, said that the government had not spoken with the company about the expansion and that it was too early to speculate as to whether it would play any role in the new stretch of the road.
Mr. Bradley said the new section of Highway 407, torun from Pickering to Highway 35/115 in Clarington, will be owned by the province and all tolls will flow into its coffers. This is in contrast to the existing Highway 407, which now ends at Brock Road in Pickering. In 1999, the Progressive Conservative government at the time sold the existing portion of the highway to 407 ETR.
Mr. Bradley said members of the public are much more comfortable with the province collecting the tolls rather than a private company.
"We have never been comfortable with the previous setup," he told reporters. "The public agrees that the Province of Ontario should own the roads. I think they believe as well that we should have a say in the tolls that are charged instead of being arbitrarily [set] by a private company."
Mr. Bradley said it is difficult to say how much the extension will cost until the government receives construction proposals from potential bidders. He also said that the mechanism for collecting tolls has yet to be discussed.
Region of Durham chairman, Roger Anderson hailed the announcement as "absolutely crucial for growth east of Toronto" and said that he expected the project to generate hundreds of jobs.
With a report from Jennifer Lewington
