TORONTO, Ont. (Sept.27, 2001) — Transport officials from both the Federal and Provincial governments were on hand at the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada’s annual conference in Toronto today to address long-term issues affecting the trucking industry.

Ontario Minister of Transportation Brad Clark and Transport Canada’s director general of road safety and motor vehicle regulation Derick Sweet, who was a last minute replacement for Transport Minister David Collenette, said reducing congestion and bottlenecks at border points are top priorities for both governments-especially in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and the heightened security that followed. Both also admitted that improved infrastructure is one of the main solutions that will go towards clearing up the long line-ups.

Clark indicated that a new provincial plan to create another traffic corridor from the New York State border through the Niagara region is a first step and added that the official opposition finally seems on board with several of the Tories’ highway plans. “Yesterday in the House, for the first time, the opposition woke up to the economy and woke up to bottlenecks at the borders,” he said, adding that potential initiatives to clear highway accidents quicker are just now being taken seriously by the Legislature. “We are developing a task force to look at that. At the time (it was introduced) the opposition laughed at me.”

But Clark also said the province needs more money. He referred to the fact that the Federal Government takes about $3 billion fuel tax dollars annually from Ontario, virtually non of which is put back into the province’s highways. He added that the Federal Government in the U.S. puts back about 47% in New York roads and highways. “So when your talking to your MPs, you may want to ask them where your fuel taxes are going,” he told the crowd of PMTC members, “because it isn’t going to Ontario highways.”

Transport Canada is currently reviewing a proposal by Canadian Pacific Railway to invest $2-billion in the company’s short-haul intermodal service Expressway. The money would be used to upgrade track and build a second rail line between Toronto and Windsor so trains could run simultaneously in opposite directions. Although it is still not known how serious the government is taking the proposal, Sweet indicated he could not comment on Transport Canada’s position at this time when asked if that money would be better spent on highways.

He did say, however, that Transport Canada has pledged its support for a bi-national committee, made up of Canadian and U.S. transport and Customs officials, to improve the flow of goods across the border. He also said Collenette recently announced that the Feds would give about $18 million to help the provinces harmonize national safety ratings.