Oshawa MPP French tables bill to make removal of tolls on Hwys 412 & 418 permanent

Premier Doug Ford received lots of press and positive reaction – at least in Durham Region – for his announcement last Friday that tolls will be removed from Highways 412 and 418, which are connector roads between Highways 401 and 407.

But the proposal only removes the tolls from April 2022 until May 2023. Oshawa MPP Jennifer French had her own bill on the floor to remove the tolls in 2018 – only to watch as the ruling Conservatives allowed it to wither and die in committee – and wants to ensure the move is permanent.

On the first day back at the legislature, French tabled her bill to remove tolls from Durham highways 412 and 418.  The provincial government still needs a bill to permanently remove the tolls and French’s is done, already on the legislature’s docket, and ready to go

“On behalf of my community and the people of Durham who have worked so hard to remove these tolls from our highways, I have submitted my bill to the government so they can use it to finally remove the tolls permanently from our highways,” said French. “We never took our foot off the pedal on this and we will continue working until this government frees our highways from tolls once and for all.

While Ford’s announcement was still a “major victory” for the people of Durham, the government still requires a bill to remove the tolls permanently and French’s bill, which she re-introduced on Tuesday, would fill that requirement.

“Doug Ford should have acted on my bill years ago to scrap the tolls for good. Instead, the people of Durham have been stuck in traffic with unused tolled highways left by Steven Del Duca and the Liberals,” French said. “Doug Ford should have fixed this when he first stepped into office four years ago as he promised before the 2018 election. Now he can use my bill to finally free our highways and ease our congestion, permanently.”