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Province signals Kenora highway project as region's priority

Greg Rickford would not confirm whether the Progressive Conservative government will continue work between Thunder Bay and Nipigon.
Rickford
Greg Rickford, MPP for Kenora-Rainy River and Ontario's minister of energy, northern development and mines and minister of Indigenous affairs, speaks at Fort William First Nation on Wednesday, February 6, 2019. (Matt Vis, tbnewswatch.com)

THUNDER BAY – The Progressive Conservative provincial government appears to be prioritizing at least one Northwestern Ontario highway twinning project, while another that had been undertaken under the previous Liberal regime seems to be left on the backburner.

Speaking to the Ontario Road Builders Association conference earlier this week, provincial Transportation Minister Jeff Yurek identified twinning the Trans-Canada Highway between Kenora and the Manitoba border as one of his ministry's priority projects.

Greg Rickford, Ontario’s minister of energy, northern development and mines who is also the MPP for the Kenora-Rainy River riding, said it has been nearly a decade since former prime minister Stephen Harper and then-premier Dalton McGuinty travelled to Kenora to announce $100 million for the project. At the time, Rickford was the federal representative for the Kenora riding.

“We know this falls squarely with the provincial government to move this project forward and nobody knows where the money is,” Rickford said. “It’s really unfortunate that this project didn’t get started. I would argue that all of Northern Ontario needs to see a vision moving forward for segments of highway that need to be twinned.”

Despite last November telling a TBT News reporter that work on the project could begin as early as the spring, Rickford would not discuss timelines when asked this week.

“I’m not going to comment on specifics right now. This is an exciting opportunity for people in my section of Northwestern Ontario. I love you folks in Thunder Bay but I’m not going to give you an opportunity to supplant any opportunity we have out in Northwestern Ontario to celebrate an important opportunity for us,” Rickford said.

During that speech, Yurek did not mention the twinning of Highway 11/17 between Thunder Bay and Nipigon. That project had been championed by Liberal Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP Michael Gravelle and had been developed for much of the past decade by his former government.

Since beginning in 2010, about half of the route has either been completed or has been under construction.

Rickford wouldn't answer whether that project would continue under this government.

“We’ve seen a lot of work done out here and we’re going to see some work done in Northwestern Ontario. We’ve got a section of highway between the Manitoba border and Kenora that’s unsafe as any section of the highway I’ve been on across Northern Ontario and recently I’ve been on just about every mile of it,” Rickford said.

As he has on multiple occasions since taking office last spring, Rickford accused the former Liberals of partisanship in prioritizing the Thunder Bay to Nipigon project over the Kenora to Manitoba highway twinning.

“Look, I said earlier twinning projects across the region are important, across all of Northern Ontario," Rickford said. "We’re focused on making good choices and responsible choices for twinning across the region and that includes Manitoba and Kenora.”



About the Author: Matt Vis

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