Mr. Speaker, the disgraceful and perilous section of the Trans-Canada Highway running between St. Leonard and Fredericton, New Brunswick is the primary transportation corridor for destinations in Atlantic Canada. This section is in dire need of an upgrade to four lanes. Hundreds of thousands of people from all across Canada travel this portion of the Trans-Canada every year.
Since the federal election in November there have been no less than 40 accidents, 6 serious injuries and 1 fatality on this section alone.
Currently there is approximately $90 million left in the lucrative Canada-New Brunswick highway agreement. Unfortunately, little of this funding has been spent on road improvements in the two years since the last provincial election, and it is rumoured that in the next two years none will be spent until immediately prior to the next provincial election.
For the sake of all Canadians, I call on the provincial government to sacrifice its self-serving political agenda and begin spending money on twinning this section of the Trans-Canada or accept the responsibility for the unnecessary deaths of Canadian adults and children whose lives will be lost on this corridor of death over the next two years.