Mr. Chair, I'm happy to explain where I'm going with this. The main motion really talks about the victims. This goes back to the first part of the motion, and it talks about finding solutions to the problem.
The testimony heard indicates not only that 35% of collisions involve fatalities, but also that there are concerns for compliant drivers. All testimony included a heartfelt plea from companies that came to see us to ask if they could continue to be compliant, to pay their fees, to make revenue and to be financially healthy while remaining compliant. That was the plea we heard.
If we want to get that done, we really need to know the situation of those companies and drivers who drive for them. I mentioned Quebec because I have a bit more experience with it, and I mentioned Transport Canada because it's directly related to the drivers we're studying and it's the Canadian government's responsibility.
Unfortunately, things are no better in Ontario. In 2023, according to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, there were 106 fatalities in collisions involving large trucks. The definition has changed again, because here they call them “big trucks”. Accidents involving big trucks account for 17.2% of all traffic fatalities in Ontario. A lot of roads in Ontario are built for road transport and big trucks. In 2022, the Ontario Provincial Police recorded 9,110 accidents involving heavy trucks, the highest number in over a decade, with 71 fatalities. As I told committee members earlier, the main cause is speeding, unfortunately. That's why I spoke earlier about the best way to reduce the number of accidents, which is to crack down on speeding.
The leading causes of accidents are excessive speed and dangerous lane changes. That's what I experience on Highway 50. On a number of occasions since 2015, I've seen vehicles go outside their lane on my way home. It's often trucks. I have no idea what the drivers are doing in their truck, but two wheels of the truck are in my lane. On Highway 50, somebody who is daydreaming is liable to get into a head-on collision. If I were not careful on Highway 50, my children would be fatherless, and my wife would have no husband, because trucks put two wheels in my lane on my way home. Dangerous lane changes are the second most frequent cause of accidents.
In addition, people think it's easy to make a truck come to a stop. Vehicles cut off and squeeze trucks on the road. Drivers don't understand how trucks behave. Truck drivers have said that they're increasingly afraid of one another. They're afraid of other truck drivers. Truck drivers have come to tell us that they're afraid of their colleagues at other companies, because they're at risk of having an accident due to the incompetent drivers on the road.
Who better than a truck driver on the road for hundreds of hours a year to testify that truck drivers are extremely dangerous on the road? Experts from Ontario have said that an inadequate space cushion between vehicles is the third leading cause of death involving heavy trucks.
I'd like to end this point with some very interesting statistics that say the number of deaths involving heavy vehicles in Quebec in 2024 increased by 35% compared to 2023. There were 74 fatalities in 2023, versus 100 in 2024. We need to retain that data. My colleagues can use it on social media to say that this committee is here to make a difference in people's lives and find a way to solve the Driver Inc. problem. That's the highest number of heavy-vehicle fatalities in the past 15 years. Transport Canada has stated that there's been a steady increase in fatalities involving commercial vehicles. In 2020, there were 343 fatalities; in 2021, there were 381 fatalities; in 2022, there were 390 fatalities; and in 2023, there were 399 fatalities. I urge all my colleagues to remember that, and to read Transport Canada's 2023 motor vehicle collision statistics and its statistics for 2012 to 2021 on collisions involving commercial vehicles in Canada, as well as visit the websites of the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. In Quebec alone, 100 people lost their lives in 2024 in collisions involving a heavy vehicle, and 77 of them were in accidents involving heavy trucks or road tractors. I'm very interested in the 35% increase over 2023, even before distinguishing the portion of this data that falls under the Driver Inc. model.
That's why, today, through our recommendations, it's important that we give the provincial governments and all stakeholders the tools they need to find the solution. Therefore, we have to work with the analysts and the clerk to achieve our ends, because road safety is extremely important. Governments invest millions of dollars in back-to-school advertising. They run commercials about speeding on highways like the 417. The commercials say that cellular phones are deadly and that people shouldn't text while driving. In Quebec, they show photos of people similar to the ones intended to show the risk of cancer on cigarette packs. There are posters in Quebec showing what happens when someone gets into an accident because they drive too fast. We're very concerned about road safety, and we have the opportunity to improve one aspect of the study directly related to the Bloc Québécois motion.
I would like to thank the Bloc Québécois once again for introducing this motion. This issue is very close to my heart, and everyone agrees with the first part of the motion. We could so easily pass this motion and complete the study by agreeing to exactly what we're asking for to preserve the dignity of the families of witnesses who are victims of accidents, which is to give them the option to come and testify in private at an in camera meeting, or in public.
Our goal is social justice and tax fairness. We've talked a lot about finance, so let's talk more about social justice and tax fairness for truckers.
The witnesses, the truckers who have come to this room are affected by the measures put in place in the 2025 budget, by provisions of the Canada Labour Code, and by political commitments to ensure social justice and tax fairness for them. We are in a political context at a parliamentary committee. Through its investments, the federal government has committed to protecting workers' rights and ensuring tax fairness in the trucking sector. Everyone stands to gain if the government invests wisely. We can therefore achieve tax fairness through recommendations. We can give the departments the tools and funding they need to hire the right people, the experts, to recover money from illegal drivers.
The Driver Inc. scheme is founded on misclassifying drivers as self-employed when they shouldn't be. It's not true, drivers can't define themselves as a supplier for a single company. They can do it their first week thinking that, as a company, they are going to drive for other companies, but today we know that's not how it goes. The company gives the driver a truck, dictates their routes and tells them that they won't look into the safety and maintenance of the vehicle. The company is going to cut corners and want the driver to drive as much as possible so that it's profitable. It says that the driver is going to be self-employed. We've even had witnesses tell us that some drivers ask to be self-employed. It pays off at the time, when they're healthy, when they haven't had any accidents, when they're willing to commit fraud and have two logbooks. It pays until drivers make a blunder and find they don't have employment insurance, protection from the Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail or health care. After they get into an accident or are no longer employed for whatever reason, it's very difficult for drivers to justify that incorporation was profitable.
The Driver Inc. scheme is founded on self-employed workers. We need to find ways to stop it and issue recommendations. Essentially, the goal is to put an end to abusive practices and ensure a level playing field.
From the beginning, I've always said the same thing. I've often asked witnesses how the government could better level the playing field. I have always been in favour of compliance with standards and proper driver's licences, and of fairness for families, workers and companies that want to have a business with sound financial conditions.
Now, the key measures in budget 2025 are not complicated.
First, it talks about lifting the moratorium on T4A slips. We've done that, and officials are working on it. That will have a direct impact on the trucking industry.
Then, we need to provide the tools to help the departments talk to each other and find the wrongdoers to recover money. Funding of $77 million over four years is earmarked for that. With the passage of the budget, we now have $19.2 million per year on the ground for compliance inspection.
There's also a legislative amendment to strengthen enforcement of the Canada Labour Code and information sharing between the Canada Revenue Agency and Employment and Social Development Canada.
That's the key to the recommendations we should make, because we really need to recommend a set of measures to give our government the necessary tools not only from a tax standpoint, but also from a moral standpoint and a business management standpoint. We need to make recommendations to the Government of Quebec and the other provinces to work together to improve the lot of businesses in the heavy truck driving sector that want to do the right thing.
Social justice and tax fairness are linked by the fact that they both guarantee truckers access to the minimum protections provided under the law, under the Canada Labour Code. The Canada Labour Code already contains pre-established standards and has certain rules around paid leave.