As the focus of Ontario’s election shifts from threats south of the border to issues at home, some parties are trying to woo voters by promising to ease their daily commutes by making Highway 407 more accessible.
The largely privately owned highway has been a hot topic of conversation for months, as the parallel Highway 401 becomes increasingly snarled in traffic. The idea being that removing tolls for trucks, or all drivers, would spread that congestion onto the often well-moving 407.
In early January before he called the election, PC Leader Doug Ford told CBC News “we’ll hopefully acquire that.” On Wednesday, his campaign made a stop at a 407 ETR facility in Pickering.
“My friends, the era of road tolls on provincial roads and highways, they’re done, they’re over,” he said, before announcing his re-elected government would do away with tolls on the Ontario-owned portion of the highway.
The key word in Ford’s pledge is “provincial.” He would be removing tolls on the provincially owned part …