FREDERICTON, N.B. – When Bernard Lord and the New Brunswick Tories swept to power earlier this year, they promised 200 days of change that would see tolls removed from the controversial Fredericton-to-Moncton highway. The deadline came and went on Jan. 6, with truckers still paying up to $8.25 to travel the stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway, confirmed a source in the New Brunswick Department of Transportation.

The failure by Lord and his government to meet the Jan. 6 deadline has not come as a total shock, mind you. Over the past couple of months, his position on tolls had begun to weaken, and he had amended his promise to include a disclaimer that the tolls would not be removed if it meant the province was going to end up paying more for the highway.

“Since being elected on June 7, we have been working hard, together as a team,” Lord said last month. “Working with the ministers of transportation and finance, working with Cabinet and the Caucus, and working with our dedicated civil servants to find a way to make a bad deal better.”

The issue of tolls had been key in the election after protest groups, such as Tollbusters, brought into the public eye the flaws of the financing deal.