Canada News
UCP Highway safety cuts mean more deaths, says ministry plan
In 2019, the NDP government committed $478 million to add lanes and upgrade several exchanges. In Budget 2019, Minister McIver cut that investment to $100 million, with no funding before 2021. (File Photo: Ric McIver/Facebook)
CALGARY — For the first time in five years, Alberta Transportation’s target for fatal or serious injury collisions is higher than the number of collisions the year before. The 2019-20 Business Plan signed by Transportation Minister Ric McIver targets 2,570 fatal or serious collisions, up from 2,509 collisions in 2018-19.1
“It is deeply shocking that Minister McIver signed off on a plan that accepts dozens of additional fatal or serious collisions just to save a couple bucks to help pay for his $4.7-billion corporate handout,” said Rod Loyola, Opposition Critic for Transportation and MLA for Edmonton-Ellerslie. “What kind of a person signs that plan?
The increase in expected fatal or serious collisions comes alongside a $137-million cut to the highway maintenance budget2, and a $27-million cut to the intersection safety upgrade budget3, and more than $300 million cut from vital upgrades to the Deerfoot Trail in Calgary.
In 2019, the NDP government committed $478 million to add lanes and upgrade several exchanges. In Budget 2019, Minister McIver cut that investment to $100 million, with no funding before 2021.
“Minister McIver found $4.7 billion dollars for a corporate handout this spring, but he doesn’t have a penny to spare for Calgary drivers for another two years,” said Joe Ceci, MLA for Calgary-Buffalo and Official Opposition Critic for Municipal Affairs. “Even then it’s less than a quarter of what Calgary needs to relieve the traffic congestion on the Deerfoot.”
“Minister McIver listens to lobbyists but not to drivers,” Loyola said. “And he signed off on a plan that he knows could lead to dozens of additional deaths. He has shown a careless disregard for the lives of Albertans travelling on the highway. He must fix this immediately or resign.”
From 2015 to 2019, the rate of fatal collisions dropped every year. In every one of his Business Plans, then-Minister Brian Mason set a more aggressive target to bring that number down even further4. This is the first time in five years an Alberta Transportation Minister has published targets that show a higher number of fatal collisions than occurred the year before.
In October, Minister McIver was forced to re-examine his plan to exempt thousands of truck drivers from Mandatory Entry-Level Training (MELT) after outraged families affected by the Humboldt Broncos bus tragedy protested at the legislature. McIver’s plan would have allowed the driver who struck the Broncos bus to have avoided training and examination.
“I stood at that intersection last weekend with Logan’s sisters, his aunty and stepfather, with so many thoughts of WHY,” said Shauna Nordstrom, whose son Logan died in the Humboldt Broncos tragedy. “The Saskatchewan government identified that intersection as a hazard and not enough was done before April 6th 2018. Intersections in Alberta have also been identified as hazardous and what is being done? I’m worried not enough, not even close. We don’t want any other family to stand at any intersection with those thoughts of WHY?
