New Grits make 407 toll rates top transport issue

TORONTO (Oct. 20, 2003) — Incoming Ontario Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty says the first order of business for the new provincial Transport Minister he will chose this week is to tackle the Liberal election pledge to lower toll rates on the 407 highway.

McGuinty says the new transport boss’ first assignment is to try to renegotiate Ontario’s deal with 407 International Inc., a private consortium that bought the 108-km highway from the Conservative government in 1999 for $3.1 billion.

The Liberals have promised to roll back the hikes to 2 per cent a year, plus inflation. Tolls have gone up five times in the last four years, and the last increase in February, was almost 13 per cent. The cost to use the highway across the top of Toronto rose to 25.90 cents per km for a straight truck and 38.85 cents for tractor-trailer combinations during peak hours. During off-peak hours, the per-kilometre charge for trucks jumped to 24.20 cents and 36.30 cents for tractor-trailers.

McGuinty has hinted that if the deal cannot be renegotiated when the contract is up in May, he may go to the courts for a settlement. A 407 ETR spokesperson told the Toronto Star newspaper that fine print in the contract makes renegotiating the deal unlikely without a financial penalty to the government.