November 8th, 2021

NDP MPP worried Ford has put Highway 69 on the backburner

QUEENS PARK — Sudbury NDP MPP Jamie West is calling out Doug Ford for failing to complete the final 68 kilometre-stretch of Highway 69 — and is raising serious concerns that the Highway appears to have been moved down the priority list.

Doug Ford’s budget update, released Thursday, adds two controversial highway propjects — the 413 and Bradford Bypass — but does not add any new money to highway construction overall. The 200-page document doesn’t mention Highway 69 at all.

"Doug Ford failed the people of Sudbury by breaking his 2018 election promise to complete the four-laning of Highway 69,” said West. “We were already let down by then-Transportation Minister Stephen Del Duca, who is now the Liberal leader, and we’re still being let down,” said West, who grilled Ford on the highway during question period last week.

“Now, Highway 69 is not even mentioned in the Ford government’s fall economic statement. He’s prioritizing new highways in the South, and he’s not adding funding to the Highways budget — and Northerners are worried that means we’re getting the shaft from Ford, yet again.”

West demanded that Ford commit to immediately tendering, and quickly building the final 68 kilometres of the highway.

“The Bradford Bypass and Highway 413 in the South are pretty clearly being built primarily to make Ford’s buddies richer, since they don’t really help with commute times or safety,” said West. “But finishing Highway 69 is making sure people get home safe to their families. It’s about making sure our parents can come visit without having to white-knuckle it on bad roads. Our families need and deserve for Highway 69 to be finished, and I’m not going to rest until it’s done.”