Ontario election: Parties promise to cut Highway 407 tolls but disagree on where

A toll highway that stretches across the Greater Toronto Area is eliciting differing pledges from Ontario’s major parties as campaign promises continue apace.

On Wednesday, Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford was in Durham Region to announce his commitment to removing tolls from the public portion of Highway 407.

The toll route, which runs roughly parallel to the gridlocked 401, has been a central debate in provincial politics for some time.

At the beginning of the campaign, the Ontario NDP said that, if elected, they would remove tolls for truckers across the entire route and work to buy the highway out of its private lease.

“We’re going to sit down with the company and we’re actually going to get a deal,” Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said Wednesday.

“We’re going to start right away by removing the tolls on trucks, we’re going to tell the company, ‘That’s it, tolls off trucks right away.’ Then, within the first 100 days, we’re going to remove and negotiate with them to remove the tolls on the entire highway.”

She refused to offer a cost for the plan.

Highway 407 was publicly built but sold in the 1990s to a private operator which charges tolls to drivers. An eastern portion of the route running through Durham Region is publicly owned and is the portion the PCs are promising to remove tolls from.

Asked if he would match the NDP’s promise, Ford said he didn’t think taking tolls off the entire highway and trying to negotiate a deal with its owners would make a meaningful difference to congestion.

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“We have a capacity issue here, that’s the problem,” he said. “In 10 years, we know all 400-series highways are going to be maxed out and some sooner than others … we need more capacity, that’s what we need, that doesn’t add any more capacity.”

Ford also announced his party would make the gas tax cut it announced in 2022 permanent if re-elected.

Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said her party would explore looking at lanes dedicated only to trucks on Highway 407 but said her focus was on family doctors instead.

The Green Party, under Mike Schreiner, is also in favour of removing tolls for truckers.

“Greens support the creation of dedicated truck lanes on Highway 407 and the removal of tolls for transport trucks as an immediate solution to address gridlock on the 401,” a spokesperson said, adding that long-term fixes to reduce car dependence were also necessary.