KELOWNA, B.C. — B.C.’s provincial government says it won’t remove tolls on the Coquihalla Highway until it has finished paying off the cost of constructing it.

That’ll take another five years, Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon told the chamber of commerce in Kelowna.

According to Canadian Press, about $700 million in tolls has been collected for the $955 million highway. At that rate, the capital cost for B.C.’s only toll highway will be recovered by about 2012, Falcon says.

But that doesn’t mean the province will definitely scrap the tolls. When the times comes, says Falcon, “we can have a discussion … whether they should be continued, reduced or eliminated.”

— with files from Canadian Press