NDP: It’s time to end the fraud in commercial truck driver training and licensing and bring it under the Ministry of Transportation

QUEEN’S PARK –The Auditor General’s report affirms the widespread failures in Ontario’s truck driver training and licensing system that Northern NDP MPPs have been calling to the Ford government’s attention for years:

“Warnings from road safety advocates and pleas from new drivers to get the training they need, have been ignored for years,” said MPP Lise Vaugeois (Thunder Bay – Superior North), “and now the Auditor General has confirmed what we feared. This is not a case of simple lack of oversight; it is neglect. This is neglect from ministries that have failed to enforce standards, failed to enforce bad actors, and failed to protect Ontarians.

“Our roads are unsafe because the Ford government has allowed fraud to flourish in truck licensing processes and Ontarian families pay the price with their lives on the roads.”

“This report is especially alarming for Northern Communities,” said MPP Guy Bourgouin (Mushkegowuk – James Bay).

“Highways in the North already come with dangerous conditions, more so with heavy commercial traffic clogging them every single day. These are lifeline roads for our communities. It is shameful that this government neglected truck driver safety measures to this extent while Northerners are the ones facing the risks firsthand.”

“For years, New Democrats have continued to call for stronger oversight by this government when it comes to the delivery of truck driver training and licensing,” said MPP John Vanthof (Timiskaming – Cochrane). “This is because we have been facing a government that has been skating with weak enforcement to put profits over safety. The Auditor General has now confirmed the consequences of Ford’s failure to protect Ontarians.”

“During our Northern Road Trip this winter, we heard directly from people and communities worried about the dangers of unsafe trucking conditions,” said MPP Sol Mamakwa (Kiiwetinoong). “Northerners have been sounding the alarm for years. It is shameful that this Government dragged their feet until the Auditor General confirmed these concerns. It is past time for the Premier and his Minister of Transportation to take responsibility and do the right thing.”