Signal right, turn left

Except for continuing the Canadian tradition of breaking election promises, it seems that after half a year in power the Ontario Liberal government is still struggling to find an identity.

I’ve been paying close attention to the Dalton McGuinty regime since it took over Queen’s Park last fall, and I still can’t get a firm grasp on what this administration is all about-especially on transportation issues.

It promised a crusade against big corporate interests like private highway conglomerates and auto insurance firms. Instead, these guys looked like they were declaring war on road users after hinting at taxing and tolling those behind the wheel. But quicker than McGuinty could say, “It’s the $5.6-billion deficit we inherited from the Tories, stupid,” the government seemed to back off some of those proposals–“seemed” being the operative word. Let’s review:

Two of the government’s biggest campaign pledges were to reduce or at least control road tolls and premiums charged by auto insurance companies. On the insurance issue, when it was revealed last month that the insurance industry recorded a staggering 775-per-cent profit over 2002, the Premier only could muster up that he was “surprised” and that he wants to “ensure that [profit] is reflected in [lower] insurance premiums.” Hardly comments that are going to blow any houses down.

Then there’s the government’s stance on tolls. Amid ample publicity, it took the operators of Hwy. 407, the privatized highway north of Toronto, to court in order to force a drop in toll rates, knowing there’s little that can change the “hands-off” contract the company signed with the previous government. Yet in March, Transportation Minister Harinder Takhar indicated that tolls would be considered as a way to fund any new highway or major expansion–including parts of Hwy. 69 linking Southern Ontario to Sudbury, Ont.

Although a Sudbury MPP two weeks later denied Hwy. 69 would be part of any toll scheme, obviously it’s on someone’s table as a way to extract money from road users.
It’s possible the same goes for photo radar, a plan that caused limited uproar when the Liberals hinted of its comeback last winter.

The latest buzz is the bomb dropped by Takhar in April indicating the government is interested in retesting every driver in the province. McGuinty wasted little time in distancing himself from the proposal the next day.

You could believe Takhar floated the retesting idea himself, without it ever being discussed with the Premier. But I bet this government is fishing, waiting to see what the public will bite at the hardest. My concern is that it’s dropping too many lines in front of road users.
Some suggestions, like photo radar, won’t affect law-abiding truckers much. Others, like tolls, target those who depend on specific roadways. The Ontario Trucking Association has not come out strongly against this government’s indifference toward road users–perhaps because it’s still feeling out the McGuinty regime.

What the OTA has done, however, is ask this government to clearly define its intentions in regard to tolls and photo radar, and to develop parameters on how to pay for new or improved infrastructure.

Drivers already pay too much in the form of fuel taxes–hardly any of which gets put back into roads. If this government wants a unique identity, how about it drops these schemes and uses the cash already collected for roads on roads? Has this novel idea become a lost cause? You tell me. sExcept for continuing the Canadian tradition of breaking election promises, it seems that after half a year in power the Ontario Liberal government is still struggling to find an identity.

I’ve been paying close attention to the Dalton McGuinty regime since it took over Queen’s Park last fall, and I still can’t get a firm grasp on what this administration is all about–especially on transportation issues.

It promised a crusade against big corporate interests like private highway conglomerates and auto insurance firms. Instead, these guys looked like they were declaring war on road users after hinting at taxing and tolling those behind the wheel. But quicker than McGuinty could say, “It’s the $5.6-billion deficit we inherited from the Tories, stupid,” the government seemed to back off some of those proposals–“seemed” being the operative word. Let’s review:
Two of the government’s biggest campaign pledges were to reduce or at least control road tolls and premiums charged by auto insurance companies. On the insurance issue, when it was revealed last month that the insurance industry recorded a staggering 775-per-cent profit over 2002, the Premier only could muster up that he was “surprised” and that he wants to “ensure that [profit] is reflected in [lower] insurance premiums.” Hardly comments that are going to blow any houses down.

Then there’s the government’s stance on tolls. Amid ample publicity, it took the operators of Hwy. 407, the privatized highway north of Toronto, to court in order to force a drop in toll rates, knowing there’s little that can change the “hands-off” contract the company signed with the previous government. Yet in March, Transportation Minister Harinder Takhar indicated that tolls would be considered as a way to fund any new highway or major expansion-including parts of Hwy. 69 linking Southern Ontario to Sudbury, Ont.

Although a Sudbury MPP two weeks later denied Hwy. 69 would be part of any toll scheme, obviously it’s on someone’s table as a way to extract money from road users.
It’s possible the same goes for photo radar, a plan that caused limited uproar when the Liberals hinted of its comeback last winter.

The latest buzz is the bomb dropped by Takhar in April indicating the government is interested in retesting every driver in the province. McGuinty wasted little time in distancing himself from the proposal the next day.

You could believe Takhar floated the retesting idea himself, without it ever being discussed with the Premier. But I bet this government is fishing, waiting to see what the public will bite at the hardest. My concern is that it’s dropping too many lines in front of road users.
Some suggestions, like photo radar, won’t affect law-abiding truckers much. Others, like tolls, target those who depend on specific roadways. The Ontario Trucking Association has not come out strongly against this government’s indifference toward road users–perhaps because it’s still feeling out the McGuinty regime.

What the OTA has done, however, is ask this government to clearly define its intentions in regard to tolls and photo radar, and to develop parameters on how to pay for new or improved infrastructure.

Drivers already pay too much in the form of fuel taxes–hardly any of which gets put back into roads. If this government wants a unique identity, how about it drops these schemes and uses the cash already collected for roads on roads? Has this novel idea become a lost cause? You tell me