That the following resolution from the Region of Durham, regarding Request to the Province to Permanently Remove Tolls on Highway 407 Between Brock Road in Pickering and Highway 35/115, be endorsed by the Municipality of Clarington:
Whereas Highway 407 from Brock Road (Regional Road 1) in Pickering to Highway 35/115 is provincially owned and tolls are set by the province;
And whereas the province introduced legislation that if passed would ban tolls from provincially owned highways including all 400-series highways except for Highway 407 which is located almost exclusively in Durham Region;
And whereas if excluded from the proposed ban on tolls, Highway 407 would become the only tolled provincially owned highway in Ontario, resulting in unfair economic impacts to Durham Region residents and businesses;
And whereas the Province of Ontario has previously removed tolls on Highways 412 and 418 located within Durham, demonstrating the willingness to removing existing unfair tolls on provincially owned highways and should therefore include the provincial 407 as part of the proposed legislation;
And whereas the removal of tolls on the provincial Highway 407 would reduce the cost of living for Durham Region residents and
drive economic growth, while ensuring fair and equitable treatment across all provincial 400-series highways;
Now therefore be it resolved that the Council of the Regional Municipality of Durham hereby requests that the Province of Ontario include the provincially owned portion of Highway 407 in any legislation banning tolls on provincially owned highways; and
That a copy of this resolution be sent to The Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, the Honourable Prabmeet Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation, The Honourable Vijay Thanigasalam, Associate Minister of Transportation, all local Durham MPPs, and all Durham local area municipalities; the City of Kawartha Lakes, Peterborough County, Northumberland County, Cobourg, Belleville and their MPs and MPPs; the Ontario Trucking Association; and associations related to the farming community in Durham Region and Ontario.