Northern Ontario transportation advocates weigh in on party platforms ahead of June 2 election

As provincial party leaders tout their plans for northern Ontario, several advocates in the region are weighing in on the party's transportation platforms.  

Kasper Wabinski, president and CEO of Kasper Transportation, one of the largest bus operators in Northern Ontario, said so far, party leaders haven't shown a commitment to working with private sector transportation groups.

"There's a lot of disconnect in the private sector and government…communication has broken down quite a lot," he said.

"The objectives of, let's say, Ontario Northland and Metrolinx don't necessarily align with the private sector for both of these sectors to co-exist."

Kasper Transportation stepped in to fill the void left by Greyhound when it cancelled northern Ontario and Western Canada services in 2018. His company currently runs routes from Winnipeg east to White River, where routes connect with Ontario Northland.

What he would be interested in seeing from potential government leaders is a "coherent strategic plan" between private and public sectors, something he says the NDP and Green Party seem to have a leg up on. 

And according to Wabinski, the Liberal plan for "buck-a-ride" could spell disaster for private bus providers in the north.

"Obviously that could be a kiss of death to the private sector," he said. "You can't just put it on for a year and then take it off because in that year, you do so much damage to the private sector that's been already hit hard by COVID and reductions in ridership."

"We don't need any more reductions in our cash flow because there's already a lot of financial damage caused by the last two years of COVID. And we need a way out of that, not the government to dig deeper with a policy like that or a promise like that."

Mark Wilson, Temiskaming Shores-based road safety advocate and a member of Going the Extra Mile for Safety [GEMS], said he looks for political leadership to implement policies that will ultimately improve road safety.

"In northern Ontario, drivers are more than twice as likely to die on the road than in southern Ontario," Wilson said. "So to address this, we need to look at road design, and that makes our roads more forgiving of drivers' mistakes and by making crashes less severe and therefore saving lives."

That mission is encapsulated under "Vision Zero," a global movement to reduce highway fatalities by better design, and more responsibility for safer roads falling to those who design them.

"Although the [Conservatives] have not specifically committed to that, they have announced a 2+1 one pilot project that we've been advocating for," Wilson said.

The 2+1 project is a specific type of road design, consisting of two lanes in one direction, and one in the other, usually in alternating stretches. The middle can be separated by a median, made of steel cable or concrete.

"The 2+1 has been implemented successfully on many rural highways in many countries around the world," Wilson said. "The NDP party platform indicates that they will put road safety first in quotations, and although not written in the platform, the NDP does support the 2+1 road pilot project."

Wilson said he's also encouraged by the NDP's commitment to returning snow removal operations to the Ministry of Transport, as well as designating Highways 11 and 17 as Class One roads for winter maintenance.

"The Liberals have set a goal to achieve zero fatalities, and have also supported the 2+1 in their platform, as well as designating northern roads as Class One."

"The Greens have a fairly simplified version, but Vision Zero is part of their policy platform," he said. "So there's wide support for the 2+1 initiative and there's some differing positions on the maintenance aspects."

Passenger rail travel still an option in northern Ontario

Linda Savory Gordon, a retired Algoma University professor and a rail advocate involved with the Coaltion for Algoma Passenger Trains, said she's looking for a government that will "seriously" plan for restoring passenger train routes in the region.

That includes a Sault Ste. Marie-Sudbury-North Bay-Cochrane rail loop.

"The NDP is the only party that mentions a couple of pieces that are very important," she said. "The Algoma Central Railway which is now being worked on by Missinaibi Cree First Nation to have a train called the Bear Train and the Huron Central – a line from Sault Ste. Marie to Sudbury that goes on to North Bay."

"That's a really important piece for us who live in Sault Ste. Marie," she said. "We feel we're really remote in terms of passenger rail. We just have no connection by rail right now at all."