Northern Ontario highway catastrophes catch attention on election trail [Video]

Dan Belisle has been driving the roads of northern Ontario in summer and winter for years and has never seen them as treacherous or dangerous as they are now.

The 73-year-old retired auto seller from Cochrane, Ont., said the number of fatal crashes has gotten so bad he worries about his grandchildren getting behind the wheel in the north.

“I was on the road lots and I never feared driving like I do now — it’s very scary,” he said. “The government has to have a plan.”

Ontario’s snap election — running for four freezing February weeks — has catapulted the issue of roads and road safety to the top of the agenda in northern Ontario.

Just before the campaign kicked off, on Jan. 23, another crash was recorded near Ignace, Ont.

Around 3:30 a.m. that day, two transport trucks crashed in an incident that killed three people and closed Highway 17 for hours. The fatal collision near Ignacve, which …