Ontario removed highway tolls ahead of election despite previously opting to wait

Since 2018 onward, Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government has faced pressure from internal caucuses to eliminate fees. Expressway 400 series in the eastern part of GTA.

However, this idea was immediately rejected because the province wanted to balance the budget before giving up a dime of revenue.

Four years later, as the Ford government prepares to face voters, officials decide to scrap that financially prudent approach and instead offer drivers a pre-election gift.

The decision resulted in the Radical Conservative government eliminating toll collection on two Durham area motorways – 412 and 418 – and in the process eliminating more than half a billion dollars in revenue.

“At a time when Ontario drivers, families and businesses need it most, our government acted quickly to provide meaningful financial support, by eliminating the 412 highway toll fee. and 418,” a Department of Transportation spokesman said in a statement.

Two brief notes obtained by Global News through a freedom of information request show that then Transportation Secretary John Yakabuski and then-treasurer chairman Peter Bethlenfalvy discussed the removal of removed the tolls on 22 October 2018, along with two Radical Conservative MPs from Durham Region.

But cutting respite for drivers – ministers were informed by department employees – would also take more than $665 million from the provincial budget over the next 30 years.

“The province uses the toll revenue to fund important initiatives such as transportation and other government priorities,” reads a line in the Ministry of Transport’s press conference document.

While the annual amount – about $22 million in revenue – would be seen as a drop in the multi-billion dollar provincial budget, it was also seen as too much to give up at a time when the prime minister warned taxpayers tax that a $15 billion deficit left Ontario in a precarious financial position.

According to provincial documents, “The minister then pledged to review the toll collection once the budget was balanced.”

But as the Radical Conservatives prepare to fight for a second straight office in the election in June, the province has a change of heart. In April, the province announced it would eliminate “unfair toll charges” on Highways 412 and 418.

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Ontario removes tolls from Highways 412 and 418

The decision – announced by Ontario Premier Doug Ford – was made as part of a cost-of-living commitment the PC government made before the order came down, including a promise of $1.1 billion dollars per year to eliminate license costs. extension fee.

That same month, Bethlenfalvy, now Ontario’s finance minister, tabulated the provincial budget projecting a $13 billion deficit by the end of the 2021-22 fiscal year.

In a statement at the time, Bethlenfalvy called the toll an “unfair burden” on the people of Durham that his government had “done right”.

“As part of our plan to reduce costs for hard-working families, motorists can now ride the 412 and 418 freeways,” said Bethlenfalvy.

The gamble paid off, giving the PC a majority in the Durham area, a key battleground for 905 areas in provincial elections.

Months after the pre-election pledge was announced, the province revealed that it had balanced its budget and posted an unexpected surplus, thanks to unexpectedly high inflation that raised the prices of goods and services, bringing in higher tax revenue for government coffers.

The Ford government has not said how it plans to replace the $665 million.