Ford makes Hwy. 401 tunnel idea a campaign promise as other leaders talk health care

Ontario PC Leader Doug Ford says a re-elected PC government will build a tunnel under the Highway 401 and ramp-up lane expansions.

PC Leader Doug Ford is doubling down on a plan he floated months ago to dig a tunnel under Highway 401 in order to relieve traffic congestion in the GTA.

In a news release, Ford called it a “serious” plan that will “get Ontario drivers moving again.”

The tunnel would stretch from beyond Brampton and Mississauga in the west to beyond Markham and Scarborough in the east, the PC Party said, and will include transit lanes.

“A new expressway under Highway 401 will be a gamechanger for our province, securing good-paying jobs for thousands of Ontario workers and adding billions back into our economy as we fight gridlock on our most congested highway,” Ford said in a statement.

Ford, who first floated the tunnel idea back in September, did not specify the cost of the massive project.

He also said Friday that in order to keep people working in the face of tariff threats, a re-elected PC government would spend $15 billion to speed up priority transportation infrastructure projects. Those projects would include moving up the Sheppard East subway extension between Don Mills and McCowan roads and rehabilitating key stretches of Highway 401 in the GTA.

Meanwhile NDP leader Marit Stiles said Friday that an NDP government would spend $4.05 billion over the next four years to make sure that every Ontario resident has a family doctor.

“As premier, I will connect every single Ontarian with a family doctor,” Stiles vowed.

Her plan would involve recruiting and supporting 3,500 new doctors, including 350 in northern Ontario.

Stiles said that she would introduce a number of fast-track solutions in her first 100 days, including adding more family health teams, reducing specialist wait times and boosting flexible care options.

She also said that she would clear the path for 13,000 internationally trained doctors to practice in the province and would increase medical residency spots.

“After seven years of Doug Ford, 2.5 million people have no family doctor and can’t get one,” Stiles said in a statement. “Adding to the failures of the Liberals who invented hallway healthcare, Ford has made it harder than ever for families to see a doctor and get the care they need.”

Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie was also talking health care Friday, vowing to bring 1,200 doctors to practice in Northern Ontario if elected.

“Patients in our northern communities are waiting longer, traveling farther, and suffering more- all because of Ford’s failure to get it done on health care over the last seven years,” she said in a statement.

Meanwhile Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said Friday that his party would cut income taxes for those making less than $65,000 a year. He said at the same time that he would raise taxes on those making more than $220,000 a year.