Letter to the Editor

Northern highway safety should not be a political issue. But it must become a political priority.

In Northern Ontario, highways are lifelines. Corridors like Highways 11 and 17 form the backbone of the Trans-Canada route through the North, linking remote communities, First Nations, resource industries, and regional economies to the rest of the country. 
These Highways are vital links—connecting patients to hospitals, workers to their livelihoods, families to each other.
And yet these same Highways remain among the most dangerous stretches of road in Ontario. Since 2020, there have been nearly 20,000 accidents and 250 deaths on Highways 11 and 17.
For decades, northern highway improvements have been treated as just another line item in a budget debate—something to be promised, deferred, and quietly sidelined. Highways 11 and 17 look virtually the same today as they did at the end of World War II.
That is a mistake.
If Canada is serious about nation-building in the 21st century, it must take its transportation corridors seriously—especially in the North. The history of this country is inseparable from infrastructure. Railways stitched provinces together. Highways opened resource frontiers and connected isolated communities. Today’s major economic projects depend on safe, reliable transportation networks. 
You cannot build Northern Ontario without building Northern Ontario roads and infrastructure.
To their credit, the Ontario NDP has consistently pushed for real change. New Democrats have repeatedly introduced practical, evidence-based legislation to make Northern highways safer—proposing proven solutions like the 2+1 highway model, stronger enforcement, and sustained capital investment. Their focus is clear: saving lives.
So why haven’t these matters moved from bills in the legislature to shovels in the ground?
Because the Conservative Party, which holds a majority in the legislature, has repeatedly voted down legislation that would make Northern roads safer.
In 2019, the Ontario NDP tabled the Making Northern Ontario Highways Safer Act. A Conservative majority voted it down. Kenora-Rainy River MPP, Greg Rickford, skipped the vote.
In 2022, the Ontario NDP tabled the Making Northern Ontario Highways Safer Act again. This time, Greg Rickford joined his Conservative colleagues in voting against it.
In 2025, the Ontario NDP has once again tabled a bill called the Northern Highway 11 and 17 Safety Act. And history repeated itself as both Minister Rickford and Premier Ford voted “nay”.
With the legislature set to resume shortly, NDP MPPs are, for the fourth time, set to table a motion that will ask the PC’s to designate Highway 11 and 17 safety and investment as a project of “national significance.”
The question now is, will the Conservatives and Greg Rickford support it? Or will the familiar cycle repeat itself: southern Ontario gets the investment; Northerners get the bill.
Ultimately, the question is not whether we can afford to act. It is whether we can afford not to.
Every year of delay carries a human cost. Families lose loved ones on roads that are known to be dangerous.
Every year of delay stagnates economic growth. It makes it harder to get goods to market. It makes it untenable for Northern towns to grow. It makes it harder to connect workers with good-paying jobs.
Northern highway safety should transcend party lines. It is about safety—ensuring that people in the North are not exposed to higher risks simply because they live farther away from Queen’s Park. It is about economic resilience—keeping goods and workers moving safely across vast distances. And it is about nation-building—investing in the infrastructure that built this great country.
This is not a partisan issue. But it needs to become a political priority.
Luke Hildebrand
Northern Co-Chair
President Kenora—Rainy River Ontario New Democratic Party
Co-President Kenora—Kiiwetinoong New Democratic Party