'Burdened with that hurdle': Small businesses call on feds to ditch Confederation Bridge toll
CBC
When Joe Sawler started selling to businesses off-Island, he found himself taking short but expensive work trips across the Confederation Bridge.
The owner of JustJoes Automotive in Stratford, P.E.I., said he now finds himself parking in Cape Jourimain, N.B., unloading his truck, and then promptly pulling a U-turn for the return journey back over the 12.9-kilometre bridge.
"For that 30 minutes of time to cost $50 — it's tough," Sawler said.
The routine costs have Sawler throwing his support behind a recent effort from the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses to end the toll on the Confederation Bridge.
On Tuesday, the CFIB launched an awareness campaign dubbed "Free the Bridge," calling on federal officials and 2025 federal election candidates to "seriously consider" removing the $50.25 toll to leave the Island. (That's a round-trip fee; there's no charge for vehicles driving to the Island from New Brunswick.)
"It adds costs to all of our goods," Sawler said. "Whether it's tires or oils or pens or air fresheners — it all gets worked into it."
In a written statement, the CFIB said the new campaign focuses on the "inequity of continued tolls" on the Confederation Bridge compared to other major federal projects, such as the toll-free Samuel de Champlain Bridge in Montreal and Quebec Bridge between Sainte-Foy and Lévis in the Quebec City area.
In a written statement, CFIB senior policy analyst Frédéric Gionet was quoted as saying "Islanders are the only Canadians who must pay a significant toll to access their own province.
"This is effectively a tax on everything P.E.I.," Gionet said. "We're asking federal leaders to end this outdated policy and bring fairness to our transportation infrastructure."
In an email statement, Transport Canada said its agreement with Strait Crossing Development Inc. to design, finance, build, operate and maintain the Confederation Bridge gives the operator the right to collect tolls until 2032.
Transport Canada also pointed to an ongoing freeze that will keep the toll at 2022 rates until at least December 2026.
P.E.I. Premier Denis King's office said in an email statement that King has raised concerns about bridge and ferry tolls to the Prime Minister on multiple occasions, including an October letter urging an immediate reduction of the tolls to $20.
"The current toll to leave the province places significant strain on Islanders and the local economy," the statement said.
The bridge is the only way for vehicles to cross to and from the mainland when the seasonal ferry between eastern P.E.I. and Nova Scotia is not operating. That Northumberland Ferries service is currently out of commission due to a pair of ferry breakdowns in September, and there is doubt about whether it will resume before December.
Margaret Walker, the emcee of a Waterloo vigil commemorating the victims of the Montreal massacre, doesn't feel enough is being done to reflect on the killings and address gender-based violence.
The P.E.I. Humane Society says it is doing far more fundraising than it used to, and rising expenses — including the cost of animal medications — are a big reason why.
Ottawa is staring down a court-ordered deadline to submit a new plan to reform the on-reserve child welfare system, as a group of First Nations leaders and children’s advocates prepare a competing proposal.
An underpass revitalization project that was meant to pay tribute to the people of Parkdale has instead deteriorated into “a garbage dump,” according to nearby residents.
A young man has been charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm after a fire at a frat party near Western University that injured five sorority sisters, including two seriously, late Tuesday night.
The massive deal to combine one of Hollywood's oldest studios with a streaming giant hasn't even been approved yet, but it's already riling multiple related industries and politicians concerned about monopolies and media concentration.
Mi'kmaq chiefs and a former Nova Scotia justice minister are criticizing the provincial government for directing police to crack down on illegal cannabis, saying the order undermines relations with Indigenous Peoples.
For years, there has been “glaring inequity” in the way the province has allocated the millions of dollars in its county roads budget, according to Department of Transportation Minister Chuck Chiasson.
Six months after passing a law aimed at making it easier for new grocery stores to open, Manitoba's premier says lower grocery bills could be on the horizon.
Timothy Smith was acting in self-defence when he punched Landon Waddell, and shouldn't be found guilty of manslaughter, his lawyer says.
Thoroughbred horse racing at Vancouver’s Hastings Racecourse is ending after more than a century, with the operator announcing Friday it will no longer run a racing season at the historic facility.
A memorial to remember lives lost to gender-based violence was held in Charlottetown Friday, ahead of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, which is marked annually on Dec. 6.
A Calgary dentist who defrauded five insurance companies over a decade should spend up to three years in prison, the prosecution argued Friday.