THUNDER BAY — The Mayor of Oliver Paipoonge says Thunder Bay is treating neighbouring communities the same way the city has often accused Toronto of behaving toward Thunder Bay.
In the wake of council's seven to six vote to force heavy trucks off Dawson Road and onto Highway 11/17, Lucy Kloosterhuis said "I'm just extremely frustrated. Oliver Paipoonge has never, ever been contacted by city administration to discuss this matter. We have not been consulted on it."
The city's new designated truck route plan will divert hundreds of additional transport trucks through the village of Kakabeka Falls.
In an interview Tuesday with Tbnewswatch, Kloosterhuis said she understands that councillors are elected to serve residents of the city, "but it's like their thoughts totally end at their boundary, and their thought of working with the region on any topic has just gone out the door."
Kloosterhuis said residents of Oliver Paipoonge now have the feeling that "the city of Thunder Bay is our Toronto. We always gripe about how Toronto and the provincial government ignore the issues in northwestern Ontario. Well, when people here woke up this morning, guess what? The city of Thunder Bay did the same thing with us."
She acknowledged the efforts of the six councillors who voted against the Dawson Road truck ban, saying they "comprehended what was going on," but said Oliver Paipoonge will now go its own way and lobby Queen's Park directly for safety improvements on the highway through the municipality.
"We are not going to ask the city of Thunder Bay for any assistance. They have made their decision and they can stay within their city boundaries as far as we're concerned."
Conmee Township also issued a statement Tuesday condemning the city's actions, calling the truck route plan narrow-minded and city-centric.
Increasing the volume of traffic on Highway 11/17 by restricting truck traffic on Dawson Road and Arthur Street, it said, "will have many ramifications...which will only compound and exacerbate existing issues."
The statement said "the lack of due diligence on the part of the City Administration...contravenes logic," but added that Conmee plans to reiterate its concerns about highway safety with the province, and will ask the government to intervene.
Thunder Bay city council must still vote on a new bylaw to implement the trucking restrictions.
