Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honour the memory of Vinod and Shilpa Patel, two constituents of Sudbury who tragically lost their lives on April 7 in a highway accident on Highway 69. This is not an isolated tragedy. Sadly, Highway 69 has claimed too many lives. For years, the people of Sudbury and northern Ontario have been promised that this dangerous corridor would be completed. Those promises have gone unfulfilled, and families are paying for that inaction with their lives. I have written to Premier Ford urging him to finally deliver on this long overdue commitment. The four-laning of Highway 69 is, in every way, a matter of life and death. Vinod and Shilpa Patel deserved to come home. Their families deserve better. Every driver on that road deserves better.
I call on the Government of Ontario to act before another family is torn apart on a highway that should have been made safe years ago.