Mr. Speaker, we have increased enforcement all across the province, especially focusing on the north. Safety is a top priority for this government, and I thank those hard-working officers, the MTO officials that are on the roads and making sure that our roads are safe. We have some of the safest roads in all of North America.

We will continue to do whatever we can to have the highest standards of training, highest standards of road safety—as we have done—whether that be investing in critical infrastructure, expanding highways, investing in keeping those highways safe, like Highway 17. I’m very proud of the work that those officers have done to keep those streets safe and continue to have that compliance and enforcement across our highways, especially in the north, Mr. Speaker.

Safety is a top priority and we will do whatever we can to keep the people of this province safe, especially on our roads and especially our truck drivers and those who travel on those roads.

Mr. Speaker, every measure that we have taken, whether it’s been adding more lights, expanding lanes, the 2+1 pilot that we are running in the north for increased safety—those members right there have voted against it every single time. When it comes to safety, when it comes to increasing enforcement, Mr. Speaker, when it comes to increasing the number of officers that we have on the road, the NDP and Liberals have voted against those safety measures every step of the way. That’s unacceptable, Mr. Speaker.

This government will continue to invest in our enforcement officers, will continue to invest in making our roads safer and the necessary improvements that are needed to support that—

My question is to the Minister of Transportation. On February 1 and 2, Kirkland Lake and Temiskaming Shores OPP and enforcement officers from the MTO did a commercial safety blitz on trucks. I’d like to thank the officers. I’d like to thank all the truckers who actually run a safe rig—and the companies. But on February 1 and 2, 75 trucks were pulled over for inspection; 36 were pulled off the road for safety—pulled off the road. Nearly half the trucks on the Trans-Canada Highway that day were pulled off the road under the minister’s watch.

Is that acceptable?

With all due respect, on February 1 and 2, half the trucks on the Trans-Canada were unsafe in a blitz. So it’s safe to assume that the other days, like today, also half of them are unsafe. And another little statistic for Temiskaming: If your car is registered in the district of Temiskaming, you’re four times as likely to die in an accident than if it’s registered in Toronto.

Once again, this was a blitz. But what about when the blitzes aren’t happening? What is this government going to do to ensure that all trucks are safe on the Trans-Canada, not just half?

I’d like to thank the member from Cambridge for his remarks. Specifically, I like how you brought into your speech your own incident that you witnessed or you knew was a big danger. With that being the case, we know that we need to ensure public safety and that our people remain safe at all times.

I wanted to talk about the businesses and the industries that will greatly benefit from this proposed change, like construction firms, telecommunications providers, locators, excavators. My question is, can the member please tell us the full impact of this legislation? How will it impact Ontarians, and what are the major benefits that it will provide?