On March 5, 2026, several Ontario MPPs are visiting Cochrane, Ontario, as part of a nine-day road trip to push for better safety on Highways 11 and 17. The Our Roads, Our Safety tour, which began on March 3, 2026, aims to highlight the dangers of frequent crashes and closures on the routes connecting North Bay to the Manitoba border.
The Ontario NDP organized the trip to document road conditions and talk with residents about their concerns. Key representatives like John Vanthof, the MPP for Timiskaming-Cochrane, and Sol Mamakwa, the MPP for Kiiwetinoong and Deputy Leader of the Ontario NDP, are leading the effort across the region.
This initiative follows a recent string of fatal accidents on northern highways, including eight deaths reported in a single 10-day period. The group is also visiting communities like Temiskaming Shores, Kapuskasing, Thunder Bay, and Kenora to gather evidence of poor road maintenance and hazardous winter driving.
Since 2018, these representatives have proposed four different plans to improve highway safety in the north. According to the tour organizers, the provincial government led by Doug Ford has rejected all of these proposals, prompting this latest effort to gather support for better roads.
