Mr. Speaker, as we approach Thanksgiving weekend with thoughts of travelling to spend time with our families, residents of the Ottawa Valley will once again prepare for the inevitable traffic deaths that give Highway 17 its reputation as a killer road.
With federal tax dollars pouring into Quebec and New Brunswick, residents in the Ottawa Valley will no longer accept the excuse from the Liberals that roads are not its responsibility.
It is time for the federal government to use the billions of dollars collected in gasoline taxes for the original reason the money was intended: to maintain and expand roads in Canada. In the words of Councillor Jack Lammert of Arnprior, “federal money should be available, this is the Trans-Canada Highway!”
I appreciate the interest of Reeve Russ Havelin, Councillor Dirk Rook, Reeve Audrey Green and Councillor Lloyd Cameron, who all recognize the need for a 4-lane highway to be built from Ottawa to North Bay. The public recently had the opportunity to review the plans to continue 4-laning Highway 17 past Arnprior to Renfrew and beyond.
If one life is saved by building proper roads, this is a legacy worth having.