The Ontario government will allocate more equipment to winter road maintenance this year, in an effort to prevent the dangerous conditions witnessed during a snowstorm in November, 2014.
The Liberal vow came a day after an exclusive CTV News report that revealed that a company hired to ensure road safety on part of the Queen Elizabeth Way is facing a hefty fine.
On Monday, CTV Toronto's Paul Bliss reported that Carillion has been fined $500,000 for non-compliance. The fine relates to a snowstorm on Nov. 19, 2014. Five centimetres of snow fell quickly across the Greater Toronto area, but there was no salt or sand spread over the QEW in Burlington, Oakville and Mississauga.
Bliss reported that, as a result, the Ministry of Transportation is looking very closely at the performance of other contractors during last winter's storms.
During Question Period in the legislature on Tuesday, a Progressive Conservative MPP peppered the Transportation Minister with questions about how the Ministry will handle winter contracts this year.
Every winter we see the same story play out: treacherous conditions, traffic tie-ups, collisions, and sadly even death," PC Transportation Critic Michael Harris said Tuesday.
"It's October. Will the minister commit to Ontario motorists that their safety will not be risked this winter by the cut-rate winter road maintenance contracts they introduced in 2009?"
Road maintenance contracts introduced in 2009
The province decided to change its winter roads maintenance program in 2009. In an attempt to reduce costs, it chose the lowest bidding road maintenance contractors, a step critics say has resulted in more dangerous driving conditions.
Minister Steven Del Duca responded to Harris' question on Tuesday, saying that there will be more equipment in remote, rural and urban areas for the upcoming winter season.
"We'll have more anti-icing liquids on the roads before winter storms, so that highways are less slippery when bad weather begins," he added.
This year, the Auditor General of Ontario concluded that the new government contracts have resulted in lower levels of winter highway maintenance.
Carillion facing other fines for inadequate service
Carillion is paid $87 million per year to maintain highways in eight different regions around the province.
The company was also fined $400,000 for its inadequate response to another storm in December, 2014.
Nearly a year after the snowstorm, Carillion is still fighting the government and the fines.
The company has refused to comment.
Ministry of Transportation inspectors are auditing every company hired to do winter road maintenance. Past performance is a factor in the audit, so contractors that failed to deliver adequate services last year will face more scrutiny this winter.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Queen's Park Bureau Chief Paul Bliss
