NDP would initiate sale of Hwy 407, remove tolls if elected

January 27, 2025 Canuck

Ontario’s NDP is promising to remove tolls off of the privately-owned Highway 407 for all drivers and initiate a potential purchase of the highway, Global News has learned, in a pre-election pitch to voters.

Ontarians are set to head to the polls on Feb 27, after Premier Doug Ford revealed his intention to dissolve his majority government and call an early election on January 29.

While Ford has signaled his party, if re-elected, would potentially address the 407 tolls on the eastern, provincially owned, portion of the highway — the NDP is looking to make the entire 407 a key election issue.

“Doug Ford has sat on his hands as tolls on the 407 have gone up, afraid to take on the private corporation that makes millions from people just trying to get to work,” NDP Leader Marit Stiles said.

Story continues below advertisement

“I will negotiate on the side of the people, get us out of this bad deal, and make the 407 toll-free.”

Get breaking National news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

If elected, Stiles said an NDP government would remove 407ETR tolls for commercial truck operators immediately after taking office, while tolls on the provincially-owned section of the highway between Pickering and Clarington would also be removed.

The NDP is pledging to then “take back the 407” by forcing the owners – 407 International Inc., owned by the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, Cintra and Atkins Réalis (formerly known as SNC-Lavalin) – to renegotiate with the Ontario government.

Policy materials shared with Global News indicate the party would look at either a voluntary negotiation between the owners of the 407ETR and the provincial government or forcing the owners to sell the highway using provincial legislation.

The cost of the proposal, however, is still in question.

In 2022, when the NDP first proposed moving commercial truck traffic to the 407 it estimated the policy could cost $4 billion over 30 years, citing Transportation Action Ontario.

The Ford government has suggested the privately owned portion of the 407 is now worth approximately $35 billion, up from the $3.1 billion price tag when the highway was sold in 1999 by Premier Mike Harris’s government in 1999.

Story continues below advertisement

While the Ministry of Transportation has said it had been “in conversation” with Highway 407 it didn’t disclose details of what those conversations involved.

View original article here Source